SingStar and Skateboards
by dangra
Summary: Nothing to do with the song 'Skater Boi! There's a fundraiser at the school and everyone in Lancer's class must sing. Plus, Sam stumbles upon a skatepark and makes a new friend. I doubt it's a T but I must be safe...
1. Chapter 1

(I'm back! Well, this is just the beginning of the story so bare with me- it may be quite boring, but it will get more interesting, I promise! _Disclaimer_- I **don't** own Danny Phantom!)

"_Sam…?"_

_Sam tried her best to ignore the voice and continued to run through the dark streets, weaving around walls and finding herself travelling deeper and deeper into the maze of buildings and becoming more lost by the second._

"_Sa-am…?" came the deep growl again, mocking her in a singsong voice._

_He was close, and she was running out of energy. She knew if she was to keep going, he would catch her; that if she was to stop and hide, he would find her. Her outcome was inevitable. She opted to keep running, then maybe, just maybe, she'd lose him. But the back of her mind told her it was useless, that he would just faze through the walls anyway._

_She turned left, then right, then took another right as she heard him catching up with her. Pushing herself forward, she took a left and found it was a dead end._

"_No…" she breathed in fright as she looked for somewhere to hide._

"_Sam-my," growled the voice again, more smug than usual as he neared the area._

_She gasped and ran forward, slamming her shoulder hard into the wall, as if attempting to break through it. She pressed her hands against it to find a weak spot or an area able to climb up, but it was useless. She wrapped her hands around her waist and let out a sob as she pushed herself into one of the corners in defeat._

_She watched as a ghostly hand appeared on the wall opposite her before it pulled the rest of the body around the corner. His eyes were glowing red and he wore an evil toothy smile. His silver hair was blazing behind him and he was hovering 2 inches above the ground._

"_Found you!" he whispered darkly, his smile never faltering._

_He watched her close her eyes painfully and slide down the wall making contact with the ground- her arms hugging her legs in fright as a lone tear ran down her cheek. He let his arm drop to his side as he floated up to her, smirking. Sam shivered as he approached and exhaled deeply, the sigh quivering slightly. He stopped a foot from her, towering over her as an ectoblast formed in his hand._

"_Just get it over with Danny," she whispered sadly in defeat._

"_Yes ma'am…" he growled before firing the ectoblast straight at her._

Sam sat up on her bed, breathing heavily with fright to see it was already morning. She sat in her position for a minute; allowing herself to catch her breath and calm down.

"It was just a dream," she whispered reassuringly to herself.

Sighing, she rubbed her eyes and checked the time. Her digital clock flashed 8:00. She groaned before sitting up on her bed, getting to her feet and stretching. She yawned and walked over to her windowsill, taking a seat and looking out at the busy world go about their business. She could hear the humming of cars against the wind drive past her house. It was a calming sound, a relaxing sound. In the background she could hear the songs of the birds from their trees. The faint barking of a neighbour's dog could also be heard, but it was soon silenced.

'_Perhaps the owner brought it inside,'_ she thought to herself.

This pleased her **1)** because she liked the thought of an animal being treated with love, care, and respect, and **2) **she liked the thought that someone in this world was considerate of others. A small smile spread across her lips as she thought of this wonderful, caring person.

The noise of the cars were getting louder as Amity began to wake up to breathe the new day. It was a pleasant day at that. The sun was shinning down on the streets, drowning the paths in sunlight and washing over the pedestrians. She could see the distinct outline of the shadows of her house due to the intensity of the sun. It was cold, but not too cold. The day seemed almost…perfect.

"Urgh, I hate mornings!" she whispered aloud to herself in disgust.

Despite the beauty of the morning, Sam hated the sun with a passion. The only thing that made her put up with the sun was the fact that plants needed it to photosynthesis so they could produce food. With this in mind, she pulled herself away from her comfortable position and walked to her bathroom. Despite the fact the sun was lighting the whole room, it remained a dark and gloomy area, for the whole room was in black. The sink was black, the floors were black, the walls, ceiling, shower; everything was in black, even the toilet! The only colour in the room was that of the world outside that she could see through a translucent window. Sam sighed and quickly got washed and ready for another day. She picked out her favourite clothes and put them on, along with her black combat boots. She brushed her raven black hair and tied it loosely back with a green elastic, like she always did. She applied her traditional purple lipstick to match her top and took a quick look at herself in the mirror.

'_Hey Sam,'_ she thought sadly, _'ready for another day…'_

Sam stuck her head slowly out of her room to detect any signs of life. All other rooms were closed; informing her, her parents were still asleep.

'_Excellent!'_ she thought wickedly to herself.

Suddenly, she heard the movement of an unknown object downstairs.

'_Probably the maids,'_ she assumed.

She gently eased her way out of her room and down the stairs so as not to disturb those who were still asleep. (I wonder why!) Her hand moved down the smooth wood of the banister as she tiptoed down the carpeted floor. Despite this, creaks could be faintly heard from under her, informing the person in the kitchen that someone was approaching. Once down the stairs, Sam made her way to the kitchen. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows, creating a homely atmosphere about the room. The kettle was whistling softly as stream escaped through its mouth. The steam rose up past a wooden cupboard that hung on the wall above kettle. Condensation had appeared on the cupboard door and was now running down the panel. The faint sound of birds arguing could still be heard in the distance, but apart from that, there was a great calm. Nothing stirred; the kettle had stopped boiling and cars could no longer be heard, even the wind had stopped blowing. There was an eerie feeling around her as she realised no one was there but her- she was alone. But she had heard someone or something down here…hadn't she?

Suddenly she felt a pain shoot up her leg as something hit her from behind.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" she screamed in terror, surprise and slight pain!

(Well I hope you enjoyed the first, introductory chapter! I swear it **will** get longer! Read and Review please!)


	2. Chapter 2

She turned around to see her Grandmother chuckling slightly at her granddaughters' reaction to her entry.

"**Grandma**! You scared me, I didn't hear you come in!"

"Its my new wheelchair! Do you like it? Your mother got it for me! Silent as a mouse, great for sneaking up on people!" she laughed slightly then looked at her granddaughter with sudden concern, "I didn't scare you too much, did I?"

"No Grandma, its ok. Its just what I needed to prepare myself for school!"

They laughed together quietly and went to have breakfast. They remained silent for most of the time, but it was a comfortable silence as they just enjoyed each other's company. Suddenly, they heard a blast of heavy metal music followed by a crash coming from upstairs. The sudden burst of noise did not startle Sam or her Grandmother, but it certainly gave a rude wakening to those upstairs. Sam smirked to herself as she heard faint yells through the music, and went back to eating her cereal. Her Grandmother looked at her suspiciously, but Sam gave her a sweet 'I'm-innocent' look. Her Grandmother smiled knowingly at her and winked as they went back to their breakfast. Sam was slightly nodding her head to the music as it was one of her favourite songs; **Her Voice Resides** by **Bullet For My Valentine. **It had the perfect opening of passionate screams, just what her parents needed! Suddenly, the music stopped and her name echoed through the mansion.

"**SAAAAAAAMANTHAAAAAA!**"

Sam looked up at her Grandmother with a startled expression. The sudden burst of anger from her father was enough to scare a ghost! She looked desperately at her Grandmother for help as she heard her father come racing down the stairs, still shouting her name. If she had known it would have gotten him **THIS** angry, she might not have done it…she would have chosen a different song though! Sam didn't find the situation funny anymore because she knew she was in big trouble and there was no escape.

Her Grandmother ushered her under the breakfast bar, just before her father came barging into the room. His blonde hair and clothes were disheveled and his eyes were wide and bloodshot.

"**Where's Samantha?!**" he asked angrily.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her…maybe she isn't up yet…"

Her Grandmother looked deep in thought, as though pondering if Sam was awake and knew what all the fuss was about. Her father breathed deep and menacingly as he stormed out of the kitchen and back up the stairs into Sam's room. Sam jumped out from under the table, mouthed thank you to her Grandmother as she reached for her backpack, then ran for freedom! She bolted to the door, too caught up in her own escape to notice a boy her age reaching for the doorbell of her house.

**-BANG-**

Sam slammed right into poor Danny, knocking him to the ground and, after tripping over his legs, had Sam land on top of him. Their faces were inches apart as they stared at each other in surprise and confusion. Sam's attitude suddenly changed when she saw he was his normal, non-evil self; she smiled warmly at him, still on top of him mind you, and crossed her arms over his chest.

"Hey Danny!" she said brightly.

He grinned nervously at her.

" How are-" (It's still Sam talking, by the way!)

"**SAMANTHA**?!" bellowed her father.

"Oh God!" she said quietly.

She suddenly jumped up off of Danny and grabbed his arm. Just about able to jump up in time himself, Danny was dragged from her house and they sprinted down the street to school.

"YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN **SOOO** MUCH TROUBLE AFTER SCHOOL, YOUNG LADY!" her father shouted after her, shaking his fist in the air.

Sam kept running as far away from her house as possible, with Danny falling quickly behind.

"SAM!" he shouted, "Sam, **slow down**!"

Sam turned her head to see if there was a great enough distance between herself and her house. Seeing that there was, she sighed in relief and slowed her pace until she stopped a couple of metres from their school. Danny stopped beside her and bent over himself to catch his breath.

"WHAT –**gasp**- THE **HECK** –**breath**- WAS **THAT** ABOUT –**pant**-?"

"You are really unfit, do you know that?"

"STOP CHANGING THE SUBJECT!" he panted while blushing slightly, "**Who** or **WHAT** were you running from?!"

Danny had now collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, facing towards the sun and still attempting to breath! Sam decided he should know what had happened and, sitting down beside him, proceeded to tell her 'funny' prank and her 'Great Escape'! By the time her story ended, they were both laughing so hard, their sides were aching and they were out of breath once more.

"I can't believe you did that Sam!" Danny laughed.

He knew that she would do things to annoy her parents, but this was the funniest so far.

"-**Laughter**- I know! –**Wipes tears from her eyes**- I'm gonna be sooo dead when I get home!"

Despite this, they were both laughing hysterically on the ground, curled up due to their sore stomachs! After a further 5 minutes of non-stop laughter, they ceased to catch their breaths and wiped the tears streaming down their faces. Danny sat up and looked around him. The street was deserted, as all the kids seemed to be in school already. His eyes then fell on Sam. Her eyes were closed and she was still smiling in remembrance of the incident. Her hands rested on her stomach and rose slightly with her every breath. She looked so beautiful the way the sunlight landed gently on her face, lighting up her every feature, and the way the wind blew softly against her clothes and raven black hair. She slowly opened her amethyst eyes and turned her head to face Danny. Their smiles slowly faded as they simply gazed into the others eyes. They wanted something to happen, they needed something to happen, but both were too scared to make the first move; uncertain at how the other felt. Sam's lips parted slightly as she became lost in his sky blue eyes. Danny noticed this and slowly, very slowly, began to lean towards her.

-**BBBBBRRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG**-

Danny and Sam quickly turned their attention in the direction of the school. Danny had quickly shot backwards at the sound of the bell, nearly causing him to fall over. Danny looked back down at Sam, as her attention slowly returned to him. They looked sadly at each other before Danny reached out his hand to assist Sam to her feet.

"Come on…we're late…again!" he said while grinning and blushing slightly.

Sam smiled widely at him as he helped her up and they both made their way to first period.

(Go on- push the little purple button down there…you know you want to!)


	3. Chapter 3

"Thank you for joining us Miss Manson, Mr Fenton!" said a rather agitated Mr Lancer.

They both smiled shyly at him and made their way quickly to their seats, Danny sitting in front of Sam. They took out their books, placed their bags on the ground and looked up at their teacher for instructions.

"Are you quite ready for me to start my class?!" he asked sarcastically with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…yes sir, go right ahead!" smiled Danny as he motioned to his teacher to continue with his right hand.

Some students could be heard snorting behind their hands; attempting, but failing, to hold back their laughter.

"Thank you Mr Fenton, I'll see you after school for detention!"

"**WHAT**?! That's not fair sir-"

"Do you want to make it a weeks worth?" he asked threateningly.

"-Sigh- No sir…"

"Right, then on with the class…"

Some of the A-list pupils in the room proceeded to sneak out iPods, PSPs, anything to keep them awake for Mr Lancer's class and avoid detention. (The things you gotta do, eh?!)

"Firstly, I have a little announcement. You will be pleased to hear, that I have volunteered this class to help raise money for our school funds…"

Everyone in the class groaned in despair, dreading the torment they'd be put through.

"Quiet please class, it's not that bad! I thought about things that you 'hip' youngster seem to enjoy doing in your spare time and came up with a solution that will really get you interested!"

The class simultaneously erupted into louder groans.

"Quiet now class…**QUIET DOWN**!"

Everyone stopped and stared at their teacher in surprise and slight aggravation.

"I know I'll live to regret this," he spoke through clenched teeth, "but…we are doing a **Sing-Star** competition at the end of the week-"

"**WOO-HOO**!"

"**YEEAAHH**!"

"ALL RIGHT!"

"THAT'S **AWESOME**!!"

"All right, all right! Settle down…**now** you will **all** be singing a song for the fund-raiser, and you can sing in groups, if you want, but no bigger than **four** per group. You can even ask a teacher to sing with you, if that's what you desire, but **not** me…uh…yes Miss Manson?"

Sam sat patiently with her hand raised timidly in the air.

"Do you **have** to sing, sir?"

"Yes, you do Miss Manson…"

'_Oh great!'_ she thought sarcastically.

" Pupils will be **paying** to **see** you sing-"

"Well, they won't be paying to see **HER** sing!" said Dash maliciously.

The class erupted into laughter as Sam sent death glares towards Dash.

"Thank you Mr Baxter, that's enough-"

"I hope the Ghost Boy comes to hear my **beautiful** singing voice!" squealed Paulina in excitement and delight as she clapped her hands.

By now, the class was in fits of laughter once again. Sam rolled her eyes in disgust and slid lower down in her chair. She rested the head in her hand that she lent against her table and looked up to see a concerned face turned round in his chair and staring at her.

'_Are you ok?'_ mouthed Danny.

Sam smiled slightly at him and nodded her head before she looked away towards the clock on the wall. Danny reached over her table and placed his hand on hers, patting it and squeezing it gently in silent comfort. She smiled gratefully at him until the teacher continued his conversation with the class. Danny spun slowly round in his seat and leant forward so his shoulders were hunched over. Sam stared at him for a moment before the drones of her teacher drilled through her mind.

"…And you can pick any song you want, as **long** as it is **suitable**, i.e. **no** cursing! That means you Mr. Connors!"

"Aw, **damn**!" huffed one of the boys near the back.

The class, in general, seem very excited and, shockingly, impressed at their teacher's idea! Many pupils in the class loved to sing (three guesses who!), and they had the honour of singing for the **whole** school. Danny couldn't wait to get home after his detention to find a good song, even Tucker was excited, and he couldn't sing! Sam, however, was dreading it. Whenever she was caught singing to herself, as a child, her mother would always tell her she had a beautiful voice, but she never believed her- would you believe a mum who spends most of her time telling her daughter she'd look good in a puffy pink dress?! She always thought she had a horrible singing voice and she ordered herself never to sing in public- the consequences could result in bullying for the rest of her school life! Having heard from her teacher that she HAS to sing, she knew that she had a lot of work to do: picking the song, getting the music and, of course, learning to sing!

Mr Lancer decided it was futile to attempt to teach the class after hearing the exciting news and allowed them to chat quietly until the end of class. Many pupils, most of them girls, had run to their friend across the classroom to discuss what songs they were planning to sing or to ask them to sing with them in a group. Some of the A-list boys had begun to make paper aeroplanes and fired them at their friends. Sam simply took out a piece of lined A4 paper and proceeded to draw with black pen. She imagined what she wanted the picture to look like and drew it as best she could. It was a Reaper with wings protruding from its back. It was carrying a large sword that it held high in the air with both hands and the figure took a fighting stance. It wore a long cloak with a hood, which covered his face in shadow so only its eyes could be seen. To finish it off, she drew fire in the background and added a tattered scroll along the bottom, which read 'Dark Angel'. She sat back in her seat and admired her work, smiling slightly in approval.

"That's really good Sam!"

Sam looked to her right to see Danny staring intently at he drawing.

"You draw the coolest things…" he remarked dreamily.

She blushed slightly at his compliment and looked at her drawing.

"It's ok, I guess…"

"What inspired you?"

Sam looked up at him to see his attention fully on her and smiling softly.

"I-I don't know, the Reaper I guess…" she muttered.

Danny laughed slightly at her Gothic attitude.

"Do you want it?"

Danny looked at her in surprise.

"Really? You don't want to keep?"

"I can make more…besides, you really seem to like it!"

She lifted the picture and handed it to him.

"Gee, thanks Sam…that's really nice of you…"

Sam smiled at him as he admired his gift.

"Oh, can I ask you one more favour?"

Sam nodded her head as he placed the drawing back in front of her.

"Could you sign it? It could be worth millions in the future- a 'Sam Manson Masterpiece'!"

He motioned the title with his hands across the sky. Sam punched him playfully in the arm and signed the picture. He then hugged it mockingly and returned to his seat, as Sam threw the pen at him. They both erupted into laughter before the bell rang for next class.

(Hyyyyyyyyyy-per on coke! Coke coke COKE! Coke and ice cubes! Yum yum yum! Um…uh…review…please!)


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm gonna sing Remember by Ember McLain!" Tucker said cheerfully at lunch.

"Is that **all** you sing Tuck?" asked Danny sarcastically.

"If you even call that **singing**!" added Sam.

The two friends burst out laughing as Tucker looked at them with annoyance.

"I can **to** sing! Everyone clapped and cheered me when I sang it on stage, **remember**?!"

Tucker puffed out his chest and pretended to shine his fingernails on his t-shirt.

"Yeh, they were **overjoyed** when he stopped!" whispered Danny to Sam, causing her to laugh once again.

Tucker glared at Danny as he slumped further into his seat and his shoulders dropped.

"Oh yeh, well what are you singing Mr **Phantom**?!"

"I don't know yet…but I'll think of something good!"

Tucker turned to Sam who, having gotten over Danny's joke when Tucker had changed the subject from himself to his friend, had stopped laughing and begun stabbing at the salad in front of her.

"And what are you singing **Samantha**?!"

Sam sent death glares towards Tucker and kicked him from under the table.

"**Don't. Call. Me. That**!" she seethed through clenched teeth as he rubbed his throbbing leg.

"Aw, come on Sam, what are you singing?" asked Danny as he rested his arm on the lunch table.

"I'm not singing anything…" she growled.

"**WHAT**!" the two boys cried in unison.

"You heard me; I'm not singing!" she stated while still poking at her lunch.

"But Sam…Mr Lancer said **everyone HAS** to sing, even you! You can't get out of this!" said an exasperated Tucker.

"Yeh, Sam. Tucker's right for once-"

"**HEY**!"

"You can't get out of this!"

Sam turned to Danny, smirking evilly.

"Watch me!"

With that, she picked up her tray, emptied it into the bin and left the cafeteria.

"Wow…she's really desperate to get out of this thing…" said a still bewildered Tucker.

"Tell me about it…" said Danny as he went back to his lunch.

Tucker saw an opportunity here and quickly calculated his plan.

"She…might just be a bit worried about having to get up and sing on her own…"

"She won't be on her own, our whole class is singing too!"

Tucker growled under his breath.

'_That's not what I'm trying to imply you clueless __**chimp**__!' _he thought to himself in frustration.

Tucker shook his head, quickly recovering from his friends' slow nature, leant forward towards Danny and spoke in a persuasive manner.

"You know…you could accompany her singing…like a sort of duet…"

"I don't know, Tuck…"

"Come on Danny, what have you got to lose?!"

"**Her friendship**!"

"She **won't** stop being friends with you **just** because you **offered** to sing with her! That's just **stupid**!"

"It's not **offering** to sing with her that worries me, it's what happens **when** I sing with her; I could do something really stupid and embarrass her or something…that's even if she agrees to sing with me…"

Danny looked down at his food; disgusted with his future idiotic self, and saddened at the thought of being rejected.

"Sam won't turn you down for singing with her, as long as you pick a decent song and make her look good!"

"And if I don't?!" Danny said while looking at Tucker, slightly worried.

"Well then, you'd better say goodbye to your parents, cause she will hunt you down and kill you – I'm **kidding**! Relax!"

Tucker had cut his 'joke' short as he noticed Danny's eyes had grown wide in fear at the thought of Sam coming after him…with a weapon!

"God Danny, you don't honestly think Sam would try to **kill** you do you?!"

"I think she could kill whoever she wants; friend or not!" Danny exclaimed, his voice now slightly higher than usual due to fear.

Tucker chuckled slightly at his tone.

"Danny, you don't have to be scared of **anyone** killing you, least of all Sam! She cares about you too much to hurt you-"

Tucker stopped short of his sentence immediately after spilling Sam's secret and bit his bottom lip.

'_Please be clueless, please be clueless!' _Tucker thought desperately to himself.

He prayed that Danny would think he meant 'only as a friend', cause if Sam found out he told Danny how she felt, **he** would be the one having Sam hunting him down with a weapon!

"I know she does…I know she'd never hurt me…"

Tucker detected sadness in Danny's voice as well as something else that, surprisingly, he couldn't place.

"You ok man?"

"Yeh, I'm fine…I'd better get to class…I'll see ya later…"

Danny got up from their table and made for the door. Tucker watched him leave, slightly confused.

"Yeh…see ya man…"

Later that day at her last class, Sam was sitting in maths, which she happened to share with Danny. She had gotten there before him because he had a 'bathroom' emergency…-cough-**Box Ghost**-cough! When he entered the classroom, the teacher luckily didn't notice his lateness as he snuck into his seat beside Sam. She smiled at him as he sat down beside her.

"Box Ghost escape again?" she asked in a slightly bored and amused tone.

"Yeh, and you know what, he's getting better! Just look at these bruises-"

Danny lifted the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal a large, purple bruise on his shoulder. Sam winced at the sight and made a sympathetic gasp.

"And that's just the small boxes!"

"Ouch!" she stated sarcastically looking back at her desk.

"Huh, I'd like to see you fight him!" he huffed sarcastically.

Sam lifted the bottom of her top slightly to revel a small, red cut on her waist surrounded by bruises.

"Been there, done that!" she stated in a bored tone.

"Oh God, when did he do that to you?!" he asked with real concern in his voice.

"On my way to class after lunch. He managed to escape before I could capture him in the Fenton Thermos! I didn't want to chase him and be late for class, so, I let him go-"

"**Miss Manson**! Quiet in my classroom!" called the teacher from under her desk.

Sam gave Danny a look and mouthed '_What?!_'. Danny stifled a laugh behind his hand at the look of Sam's face.

"It's not funny; she has it **in for me**!" hissed Sam angrily.

"**Miss Manson**, you will **not** be told **again**!"

Sam glared at her teacher incredulously as she crawled out from under the desk holding a piece of chalk. Sam could feel Danny shaking from laughter beside her, which caused a grin to form across her face. She stared at him in disbelief, still smiling however, as he laughed at her 'pain'. She poked him in the side, which caused him to let out a small yelp.

"**MISS MANSON**!"

Sam jumped and looked up at her teacher in surprise at her sudden outburst.

"Have I not told you to keep quiet in my class?!" she asked in a high pitched voice.

"Mrs, that wasn't me…" Sam tried to explain without getting Danny in trouble.

"A likely story-"

"Really Mrs, it wasn't her, it was me," defended Danny.

"Oh, and why, may I ask, did you yell like that in my class?"

Danny looked to the floor in embarrassment and scratched the back of his neck.

"Um…I…thought I saw a mouse?!"

"Uh-huh!" remarked the teacher sarcastically as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"A **ghost **mouse?!" blurted Danny randomly in desperation.

"Because I poked him in the side, Mrs…I'm sorry" Sam apologized.

She knew Danny already had a detention and didn't want to get him further into trouble; besides, it was sort of **her** fault.

"I appreciate your honesty Miss Manson…"

Sam smiled slightly.

"But I will not overlook the fact that you have disrupted my class and wasted 10 minutes of teaching!"

Her smile faded.

"Detention after school!" she ordered as she turned her back on Sam.

Sam let out a groan and, slouching over her table, hid her head on her arms.

'_Great!'_ she thought sarcastically.

A gentle nudge against her arm caused her to look up at Danny. His eyes were sad and guilt ridden.

"I'm sorry for getting you into trouble Sam…" he said in almost a whisper.

"It's ok, just forget about it Danny…" she mumbled as she lay her head on her arms again.

"You shouldn't have done that though; I was already in trouble, it wouldn't have mattered to me-"

"Really Danny, it's ok…" she insisted as she looked back up at him. "If it means I have to wait a while longer before facing my dad about this morning, then it's cool!"

The two friends chuckled quietly before their teacher began the lesson.

(Well, hopefully, it's time for you to review please! This fanfiction might be put on hold for a while...)


	5. Chapter 5

"Danny! I **just **cleaned there!"

"Sorry…"

Danny and Sam were in the cafeteria for their detention- they had to help the janitor clean up the lunch hall. It was in a horrible state due to a food fight, which they both happened to miss because they left early!

"Tucker could have at least given us a heads up at how **bad** this place was gonna be!" moaned Danny.

"Well, it's not like he started it…" reasoned Sam.

Danny and Sam suddenly looked up at each other with the same thought in mind- if he did start it, he was gonna to pay! Their eyes narrowed as they nodded to each other in silent understanding and went back to their cleaning. Danny was mopping the floor and walls while Sam was wiping down the tables and low windows. She had been on the same table for the past 5 minutes now, trying to clean the same spot which was refusing to wipe off. Growling in frustration, she flung the cloth to the ground, sat down with the table on her right and rested her head in her hands. Danny noticed this and approached her cautiously. He stood before her and lent on the mop he was using.

"Hey, come on Sam…its no big deal; it's just a table."

Sam didn't move, she didn't even attempt to look up at Danny- she just sat there swimming in her own annoyance. Danny knelt down in front of her and took a gentle hold of her arm, which was still supporting her head.

"This isn't just about the detention, is it?" he asked already knowing the answer.

Sam allowed her arms to drop to her knees, with Danny's hand still holding her left. She looked up and stared at Danny tiredly.

"It's about the fund raiser…"

"I already told you, I'm not singing in it!" she stated in a bored tone.

"Do you honestly think Lancer will let you off that easily?"

"If he knows what's good for him, **yes**!" she said angrily, more to herself than Danny.

"What are you afraid might happen Sam? People laughing at you or something?"

Sam didn't answer immediately and averted her gaze to out one of the windows. She slowly nodded her head and stared sadly at the floor.

"Sam," he said as he gently turned her to face him with his hand, "You have nothing to worry about; you have a beautiful voice and me, Tucker, Valerie and Jazz will all be there to cheer you on, along with the rest of the school."

Sam stared at him for a moment, looking into each of his eyes alternatively.

"How do you know what I sing like?" she said in a low, horrified tone, "I've never sung in front of any of you guys!"

Danny's features went from startled to fearful and anger at his own stupid mistake.

"Uh…well…sometimes, uh, when I'm out ghost fighting at night, I fly by your house t-to make sure your safe, you know, and…I-I overheard you singing one night and…you were amazing…"

Danny watched for Sam's reaction, pleading silently that she would understand and not mistake him for eavesdropping in on her life. The only reaction he got was a small 'oh' that escaped her mouth and a slight blush in her cheeks. After that she looked silently away from him, once again fascinated by the floor.

"Sam…if it's singing alone you're worried about…I could always sing with you…" Danny offered shyly.

"You'd do that for me?" she asked softly, gazing at him.

"Of course I would Sam…I'd do anything for you…"

Sam smiled at him and pulled him into a warm hug.

"Thank you Danny, that would be so great of you…"

They sat there for a while; too absorbed in each other's care and affection for one another to notice they were still holding each other. Before long, the cafeteria door creaked opened and a large figure came stumbling through the door.

"Reeght, yee two lovebirds can go eff home nay," bellowed the new janitor.

Sam and Danny pulled away from each other, slightly blushing with embarrassment, but neither reacted to the 'lovebirds' gesture.

"But it's not even four o'clock!" questioned a confused Danny as he looked at his watch.

"Ya don't honestly want ta stay heere do ya? Look, ya've learnt yer lesson, haven't yee?"

The two friends nodded silently.

"Well then be off with yee, 'afore a change ma mind!" he shouted threateningly, yet kindly.

Danny and Sam smiled gratefully at him and thanked him on the way out of the lunch hall.

"Yeh, yeh, nay quick 'afore anyone sees ya!" he ushered quietly.

Danny and Sam proceeded to walk to their lockers to retrieve any books needed for homework's they had received from grumpy teachers.

"He is like the nicest janitor ever!" commented Sam happily.

"I know! How many janitors can you honestly say would do something like that for you?"

"Apart from him, none! Many of my teachers aren't even as nice as him!" Sam laughed.

As they reached their lockers, which happened to be right beside each other, they grabbed a couple of their jotters and textbooks then forced them into their bags. Danny's locker consisted mainly of jotters, half eaten lunches and a Fenton Thermos whereas Sam's held a vast amount of file sheets, mostly of drawings done during class, and a few books. There were also a few of her drawings, which she thought were 'satisfactory', hanging on the walls of the inside of her locker. She had written a few comments under each of the pictures; what inspired her or what she could do to improve.

"Geez Sam, your locker's a mess!" laughed Danny.

Sam raised an eyebrow as she looked into his locker and then at him.

"Yeh, it's almost as bad as yours!" she retorted sarcastically with a smirk that quite resembled his.

"Touché!" he chuckled as he closed his locker door.

Smiling in satisfaction, she closed her own locker and they both, finally, left the school for the day…

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! **BEWARE!**"

"Oh. My. **God**! Him **again**?!" Sam growled in annoyance.

"Will this school day **ever** end!" shouted Danny in frustration as he transformed into his ghost form and shot towards The Box Ghost.

"I AM THE RULER OF ALL THINGS SQUARE AND-"

"Yeh, yeh, whatever! Can we get on with this?! I **do** have a life outside of you, you know!"

"INSOLENT CHILD! YOU **WILL** FEAR ME!"

"Oh, can't you tell?! I'm positively terrified!" replied Danny as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

"**ENOUGH!**" bellowed The Box Ghost in fury and humiliation.

He fired three small boxes at Danny. Danny simply chuckled in amusement.

"That's **it**?! I'm quite offended by-"

Millions of sharp, metal box corners suddenly appeared at the sides of every box that was heading for Danny.

"Not good!" he whispered as his eye's widened in surprise.

He managed to dodge two of them, but the third hit him full on, taking the wind from him. He fell to the ground and winced at the pain in his stomach as The Box Ghost hovered above him in triumph.

"BEWARE MY MIGHTY AND ALL POWERFUL…uh…POWER…**BEWARE**!"

Danny growled through clenched teeth and fired an ectoblast at him. Luckily, it hit him up the face and knocked him back a few feet. Danny took this opportunity to fly back into the air and head towards The Box Ghost for a full force punch. Deciding that The Box Ghost needed a little reminder of why he shouldn't ever leave the Ghost Zone, Danny fired a few more ectoblasts at him for punishment while he charged at him. The Box Ghost managed to avoid the blasts, but not the punch. As Danny sucked him into the Fenton Thermos, one of his earlier blasts hit a nearby locker, which exploded into a mass of pages on the floor and left nothing but a singed wall.

"Who's locker was that?" Sam asked in a worried tone as she pointed at the space where the locker use to be.

"Uh…I think it was…Paulina's…" he guessed while scratching his head.

"Oh, well that's ok then!" she shrugged with a small smile on her face. "Can we go home now?"

"Hold on…"

Danny stood static with his hand raised in the air to command silence. He stood there for a while, listening to the silence of the school. When he noticed Sam place a hand on her hip and sigh in impatience, he walked towards her smiling.

"Yep, we're good! Lets go!"

Sam playfully hit him on the arm and walked out of the school together.

(I don't know what time schools in America end at so I based the time off mine- 3:30pm! That's why they were so shocked about getting to leave at 4:00pm. Anyway, R&R please!)


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Danny," sighed Sam.

"What?" asked Danny slightly dazed.

The two friends had not said a word to each other since they left the school; they just silently enjoyed each other's company.

"This is my house…you know…where I live!" she stated sarcastically while motioning towards her house.

"Riiight!" he said slightly annoyed that she was mocking his stupidity and speaking slowly to him, "but I'm not leaving!"

Now it was Sam's turn to be confused.

"What?!"

"I wanna see how much trouble you get into because of this morning, plus, are we not singing together at this fundraiser thing?"

"Yeh, if you're still up for it I guess…"

"Then don't you think we should pick a song before all the good ones are taken?"

Sam chuckled slightly.

"Trust me, the songs I have in mind won't be taken by anybody!"

She smirked at Danny's confused and worried expression.

"Right, come on in then!" she sighed dramatically, "Maybe your being there will lessen my punishment…" she thought more to herself than to Danny.

"I doubt it! Your parents hate me! They'll probably make it worse!" he joked.

Sam rolled her eyes and approached the large, oak door.

"How do you think they'll punish you?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know, but if I know my parents, it'll have something involving a pink dress!"

They both laughed softly and prepared themselves for entering Sam's house, and the wrath of her parents. Sam cautiously pushed open the front door and stepped inside, ushering Danny to come in also. The hall was large and highly decorated with paintings and different statues of the highest quality.

"Oh, Sammykins, I just heard the good news!" chirped Pamela as she approached her.

"What good news?" she questioned while being pulled into a hug.

"The sing-star fundraiser at you school of course!" she replied happily while releasing her daughter.

"Wow, word travels fast around here!" she whispered to Danny who stifled a laugh.

Pamela ignored Danny as best she could and continued with her and her daughter's conversation.

"All of Amity will be invited to raise a large amount of money!"

Sam groaned in horror and disgust at the thought of everyone watching her sing.

"And I have the perfect selection of songs that would be just wonderful for you to sing!" continued her mother.

Sam, taking note that her mother was overlooking the incident from this morning, attempted not to lose her temper at her and remained calm, cool and collected…no seriously, she did!

"Well, as wonderful as that sounds mum, I'm gonna have to decline," she apologised politely, "I'm singing in a duet with Danny."

She motioned towards her friend who was standing behind her and smiling sheepishly.

"You mean the Fenton kid who always gets this family into trouble?!" she inquired nastily, her cheerful manner totally forgotten.

Danny's smiled faded as he began to panic. Sam rolled her eyes and took a hold of his arm, leading him past her mum and up the stairs to her room.

"Yes mum, that 'Fenton kid'!" she replied sarcastically from half way up the stairs.

"And I'd like to talk to you later about this morning young lady!" her mother called up after her.

"'Till then!" called back Sam sarcastically before shutting her bedroom door rather loudly behind her.

"Well, that wasn't too bad!" she sighed, smiling at Danny as she walked to her bed and collapsed on it.

"I suppose it could have been worse," Danny shrugged as he walked over to her C.D. collection.

"Any particular group that interests you?" he asked while flicking through her heavy metal cases.

Sam smiled wickedly to herself. They didn't have to decide on a song straight away and she thought it would be fun to torture Danny…for a while!

"Yeh…try…System of a Down!" she suggested. (Woo, System! For all you S.o.a.D lovers out there- you know who you are!)

Danny cocked an eyebrow at her tone but shrugged it off and proceeded to place the C.D. Toxicity in her C.D. player. He loudened it up slightly and walked to sit beside Sam on her bed. There was a sudden, single slam on the drums and a bass chord played before silence continued. Danny turned round to stare at the C.D. player in confusion before making his way back to Sam. He gave her a look as he took a seat. She smiled innocently as the music started again, for a longer period of time, before it stopped and the singer whispered, "They're trying to build a prison…"

Danny stared into space while listening to the song with a look of confusion, fear and worry on his face. Sam watched him, smirking smugly and nodding her head ever so slightly to the music. When the song ended Danny looked back at her in horror with his mouth a gap.

"You don't expect me to sing **that** with you, do you?!" he questioned in terror.

"What? Don't you like it?" she asked sweetly.

"Well…y-yeh, I mean, they're all right…but…uh…**Lancer**,yeh, Lancer might not like it.! I-I mean…he's kind of a kill joy!" he stuttered nervously, trying not to offend Sam- good 'ol Mr Lancer! 

"Oh…" Sam faked a disappointed voice, "Well…I guess we can try something else-"

"Great!" exclaimed Danny as he jumped to his feet, "Uh…can I pick the next one?"

Sam raised an eyebrow at him and nodded her head. Turning his back on her, he sighed in relief as Sam stifled a laugh. He quickly ejected the C.D. and stuck in another random C.D., anything to get rid of the other heavy metal music! It so happened to be a C.D. that Sam had made herself, containing many varieties of bands and music genres. As the first song started, Sam's eyes widened in terror as she jumped to her feet and skipped the song. Danny, however, had heard the start of the song and recognised it. He stood beside her smiling.

"Was that…Dolly Parton?!" he laughed.

Sam glared at him as she blushed fiercely.

"**What**, I can't listen to **anything** other than **heavy metal**?!" she questioned angrily.

Danny raised his arms in defence and backed away from her.

"No! Y-you can listen to whatever you want! I-I just didn't think country western was your type of thing!" he stated quickly.

"For you information, Here You Come Again is a **classic**!" she growled, backing him into the wall, "And how did **you** recognise the song?"

She poked him in his chest at her last question then crossed her arms, waiting for his answer.

"Um…I…heard it on the radio once and thought it was pretty good...my mum told me it was by the famous singer Dolly Parton…"

Sam raised an eyebrow at him as he nodded his head, smiling shyly. She let it go, not wanting to get into a whole debate on how they each liked the song and went back to her bed to sit down. Danny released his breath that he was holding and sat down with her as a different song came on.

It was 10,000 miles by Carpenter Mary Chapin, another country western song. Sam didn't bother changing the song, and instead lay back on her bed and let a small sigh escape her lips. She closed her eyes and let the music flow through her, some of the lyrics hitting a nerve inside her. She was grateful that she had closed her eyes because she began to feel tears weld up, threatening to spill.

'_Darn it! Why does this song always make me cry?! I'm supposed to be Goth!' _she thought angrily to herself.

She bit her lip and forced them back, unaware that Danny was looking at her in concern and sadness.

'_Wow…this song really seems to be upsetting Sam…maybe I should skip it…what's the point, it's nearly over anyway…'_

Just as he thought that, the song ended and the next one started- Untitled by Simple Plan. It was another sad song, this time a male voice singing. Sam's eyes remained closed as her mind wondered through the meanings the lyrics had on her life…and her relationships.

Danny lay back on the bed beside her, causing her to open an eye slightly at him. He smiled reassuringly at her before facing the ceiling. He never noticed the smile that she returned before closing her eyes again.

"Those songs are really sad Sam…" Danny spoke softly as the song came to an end.

"Well, you'd better get used to it cause so's the next one!" she joked quietly.

And it was. The opening piano piece for Falling into History by Avril Lavigne started and the two friends went silent to listen to the lyrics. Again, there were many hidden meanings behind the words, which Sam hoped remained hidden to Danny since he was clueless, but he noticed.

'_Man…these are such depressing songs…I wonder why Sam listens to them…but then again, she is a Goth…that wouldn't explain the sad songs…maybe she just likes the bands…or…she likes the lyrics…maybe they mean something to her…something more than just words to a song…or maybe I'm reading too much into this…'_

Danny took the opportunity to turn his head and watch Sam while her eyes were still closed. He subconsciously took in every feature on her face and her silk, black hair that spread out behind her. She looked so peaceful- all of the protective, sarcastic Goth persona gone from her face as she relaxing and listening to her favourite songs with a friend.

'_Yeh, a friend…'_ Danny thought sorrowfully.

He watched her sigh softly and open her eyes half way as the song neared an end. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Danny staring at her and she felt her cheeks heat up slightly as a light blush appeared. She slowly turned her head to meet his gaze- locking their blue and amethyst eyes as a new song came on; Iris by Goo Goo Dolls.

When the song ended, Sam got up from her bed and turned off her C.D. player as another System of a Down song sneaked its way back into the room. She turned and made her way back to Danny.

"Soooo….did you like any of them?" she asked as she stood before him.

"I loved all of them…" he said in a slight daze.

"But?" she asked dully.

"But what?"

"Come on Danny, what's wrong with them?"

"There's nothing wrong with them!"

Sam watched him as he rubbed the back of neck nervously and avoided her eyes.

"…They're too sad aren't they?"

"Well, it's just…I don't think it's appropriate to depress the audience when they're trying to help us raise money- Goth or not!"

"-Sigh- I guess you're right…tell you what, you go and pick the song. Just, don't pick anything preppy…" she smiled.

Danny returned the smile and nodded his head as he got up and walked to the door of her room.

"Ok."

"…Or Hip-hop!"

"Ok!"

"…OR RNB!" she shouted out her door.

"GOT IT!" he called from halfway down the stairs.

'_**Darn**__! Forgot Euphoria!'_

She heard her front door open and close quietly as he left. Sam smiled to herself at the memory of opening her eyes to see him watching her.

"Samantha, was that the Fenton boy that just left?"

Sam ignored the fact that her mum had, yet again, referred to him as 'the Fenton boy' and stuck her head out of her door.

"Yes," she called in reply

"Then get down her young lady, we want a word with you!" bellowed her father.

Sam couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes.

'_Here we go again!'_

(Thank you to everyone who reviewed- your comments are always greatly appreciated so keep 'em comin')


	7. Chapter 7

Sam had just arrived to school and headed down to her locker to collect some of the books she needed for first period. Her locker was becoming more and more disorganised with every visit; her books were beginning to tare at the ends and a mass of file sheets were beginning to pile up at the back, most of them drawings. But, she was usually too busy ghost fighting or keeping up her grades to do anything about it! Besides, she didn't care much! Suddenly, an unstable textbook fell causing an avalanche of books to fall at her feet. Sam growled in frustration and proceeded to pick them up.

"I am so not in the mood for this!" she muttered to herself.

For her, it had been a long night; having suffered 2 hours of her parents' ramblings about what she had done earlier that morning. They had somehow managed to link all of the things she had done wrong that month into the lecture and had tried to ban her from hanging out with Tucker and Danny from now on, believing they were the culprits. Fortunately, Sam had won the argument…again! But, that was yesterday; time for a clean start on a new day…

"Hey Goth Geek, it's a bit late for spring cleaning!"

Sam groaned inwardly and glared up in anger at the preppy A-list, Paulina.

'_Why is it always me?! Oh, I guess she hasn't noticed her locker yet!'_ Sam chuckled internally.

"For your information Paulina, my books saw you coming and tried to make a run for it!"

"Tsk…books can't run!"

'_Well done!' _Sam thought tediously as she raised an eyebrow at Paulina.

"So what are you singing for the fund raiser **freak**?" Paulina continued in a bored tone, examining her nails.

Sam slammed shut her locker and turned to face Paulina with a hand on her hip and an aggravated look in her eye.

"I'm singing **Don't Cha** by the Pussycat Dolls and I just **know** the 'Ghost Boy' will **looove** it!"

'_Urgh, she's such an arrogant little witch!'_ Sam thought angrily.

Sam could feel her temper rise at Paulina's statement, but decided to not let it get the better of her. She kept her cool persona, which caused Paulina to raise an eyebrow in surprise and disappointment.

"Whatever you say Paulina!" she laughed sarcastically before walking off.

"He **will** love it!" she retaliated, "I **know** he will!"

"Yep, just keep telling yourself that!" Sam shouted back before heading off to Lancer's class.

"Class…I have some news about the fund raiser…" started Mr Lancer cautiously.

The class immediately quietened down to hear what he had to say with high interest.

"I'm…sorry to announce that the fund raiser…has been postponed until sometime next week-"

"NEXT **WEEK**!"

"AAWW!"

"**SAKE**!"

"I can't **BELIEVE** this!"

"YOU **SUCK** LANCER!"

"**STUDENTS!**" roared Mr Lancer.

All of the students stopped groaning and complaining, but each held a look of annoyance at their teacher.

"Path of Destruction! Don't shoot the messenger!" he cried in anger.

The class smirked at his reaction, but were still upset about the whole 'fund raiser on hold' thing. Sam, however, was thrilled. A party was going on in her mind as she sighed with relief.

"Aw man! People won't be able to hear my wonderful talent!" Tucker groaned to Danny.

"You have talent?!" asked a stunned Danny.

"Shut up man, you know I do!" replied Tucker dully.

"Ok ok, but tell me- where've been hiding it for all these years!"

"Urgh, I give up!" sighed Tucker in annoyance.

Danny smiled and looked over to Sam who was grinning and staring out of the window dreamily.

"Don't get too upset now Sam!" he said in a hurt tone- he was, after all, singing with her.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Danny…you know how I feel about having to get up and sing. I'm **so** glad it's been put off for a while!" she sighed happily.

"Well, you seem to be the only one! Everyone else is bummed out!"

"You don't actually want to sing, do you?" she asked incredulously.

"I don't mind singing, especially since I won't be on my own!" he smirked at her suggestively.

"Yes, thank you for reminding me!" she rolled her eyes at him, "Did you check for songs…not that it matters anyway?"

"They're no good." He replied bluntly as he looked away.

Sam raised an eyebrow, but before she could question him further, Mr Lancer started the lesson, with great difficulty I might add!

"Now, on with our lesson. I trust you've all read-"

'_Blah blah blah blah __**blah**__! Does he ever shut up?!'_ Sam thought in boredom while rolling her eyes.

She took out her notebook, which had now become her personal 'Sketch book' and grabbed a pen. She skimmed through the pages to find a clean one and to relive some fantasy's she had drawn a while back; a zombie, a tiger with wings, and dark dragon glaring at her from the page, Danny…

She looked up from her page in fright, and with a slight blush might I add, to make sure no one had seen that last picture. From the looks of things, the students were too busy trying to ignore Lancer though some were actually writing notes. She released her held breath and turned the page, putting pen to paper. She tried not to think of anything and just let her hand move along the page blindly. Eyes began to roughly form on the page, then a nose, mouth…

Sam stopped what she was doing and looked at her drawing. It was beginning to look like Danny again. Sighing, she decided to give the drawing a new hairstyle and new taste in clothes to try and mask what she had started. She drew his hair to his shoulder with a long fringe covering one of his eyes and made him wear a long, leather jacket with a black T-shirt and long, baggy trousers. Her sketch was rough and the pen line went in different directions making it look rushed, but Sam really liked this type of drawing- it seemed more free and real and-

"Mrs Manson, what is your opinion?" asked Mr Lancer in his usual bored tone.

Sam's head shot up as she stared at him in confusion. She looked frantically at her friends for advice, but they simply shrugged at her with frightened looks on their faces.

"Mrs Manson, we don't have all day!"

Sam didn't want to admit to not paying attention in his class- she knew she would surely receive a detention for her ignorance, and she wasn't in the mood. So, she followed what her mind was screaming at her to do.

'_WING IT YOU IDIOT! __**WING IT!**__'_

"Um…I think that-"

_**BRRIIIIIIIINNG!**_

The class jumped from their seats and sped out of the classroom clutching their books in their arms. Sam gasped in relief and ran out of the classroom, closely followed by Danny and Tucker.

"That was a close one!" she muttered when she was far away enough from Lancer.

"Yeh, saved by the bell, huh?!" stated Tucker sarcastically.

"Why didn't you guys help me?!" she asked as she hit them both playfully in the arm.

"Hey, your smart! You could have just winged it!" exclaimed Danny.

"**I did**!" she started before realizing, "…you weren't paying attention either, were you?!"

"…No…!" admitted Tucker quietly after a few minutes of silence pasted.

She smirked.

"Uh-huh! And you Danny?"

"Oh, I was paying attention…I just didn't understand what he was talking about!" he muttered sheepishly.

Sam laughed at his expression and waved good-bye to them.

"See you guys at lunch!" she called to them.

"See ya, Sam!" Danny shouted back.

Danny and Tucker went into their history classroom leaving Sam to make her way to her art room.

**_Don't wanna bore you so, later at Lunch…_**

"How was art?" asked Danny as Sam took her seat beside him at the cafeteria.

"Hilarious! Paulina was trying to get a wooden board from on top of the filing cabinet; she knocked over a tray of acrylic and it fell all over her!" Sam smiled in glee.

"**HA**! Stroked her!" laughed Tucker.

"Oh look, she's still got green acrylic in her hair!" chuckled Sam.

The three friends looked over to her table to find her trying to brush the paint out of her silk hair. Sam and Tucker were attempting to stifle laughs, but at the sight of her hairbrush getting stuck in a mass of tangles, they erupted into roars of laughter. Danny, however, didn't find this amusing.

"Leave her alone you guys!" he hissed in annoyance.

"Why, she'd do the same if it happened to us!" stated Sam matter-of-factly.

"Ha…no Sam –**laughter**- we should go easy on her –**snort**- after all it could be worse…" reasoned Tucker.

They both looked back to her table to find she was standing. She had several hairbrushes now attached to her hair and Star was now frantically pulling at one to get it out, causing her to scream in pain. Tucker and Sam looked at each other for a moment before bursting into fits of laughter once more.

"I think it's just got worse!" Sam gasped through bouts of laughter.

Danny watched them with his arms crossed until they both relaxed a little.

"You done?!" he asked in aggravation.

"Almost!" gasped Tucker.

"You guys are unbelievable! I can't believe you would just laugh at her like that."

"Why not? It an amusing situation!" replied Sam.

"You wouldn't like it if people laughed at you."

"To be honest, I wouldn't care! Its preps like her that think getting your hair messed up is the end of the world! Besides, I wasn't the only one laughing-"

"Don't drag me into this! This is between you two lovebirds!"

"**WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!**" they both cried in unison.

"Whatever!" Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Besides, she deserves it!" continued Sam, quickly becoming ticked off.

"For what, she didn't **do** anything!"

"Maybe not to **you**, but she's been annoying **me** since this morning."

"Why?! She hasn't **done** anything!" argued Danny.

"SHE CALLED ME A **FREAK**!"

"**EVERYONE** CALLS YOU A FREAK!"

Sam blinked and stared at Danny in surprise, anger and sadness. Danny stopped what he was saying and reached out to hold her hand.

"That came out wrong…"

Sam pulled her hand away from him and got up from their table.

"**Sam**!" he called after her.

She ignored him calling to her and stormed out of the lunch hall.

"Oh man!" he groaned.

Tucker watched his friend bang his head several times off the table and shook his head.

"You **always** pick Paulina over her!" he said in disgust.

"What should I do?" he looked up at him desperately.

"Go apologize to her!"

(Read and review please!)


	8. Chapter 8

Danny ran down the halls of the school and out to the courtyard. He knew Sam would never stay in school unless she was forced, so he decided outside with nature would be the most likely place she would be. It took some time, but he finally spotted her sitting under an apple tree and staring at the ground straight in front of her. Danny took a deep breath and approached her.

Sam's mind was racing with all the things that just taken place. Her eyes were unfocused, but never glistened. She would **never** reduce herself to crying- not in school, not alone in her room, not **anywhere**. Yet, she was still sad. She knew Danny didn't mean it like he did, but she also knew, deep down, he was right; it just hurt to hear it come from him. The snapping of a twig brought her out of her thoughts, her eyes back into focus, but she didn't turn to face the noise; she already knew who it was. Danny took a seat beside her but she avoided looking at him.

"Hey," he started casually.

"Hey…" her voice was a near inaudible whisper as she stared at the ground.

"Sam…about what I said…I didn't mean it like that, it just came out wrong-"

She interrupted. "It's fine…"

"No it's not…I didn't mean **you** were a freak, I just meant that of all the people who call you that, you pick on Paulina the most…"

Sam didn't move. She kept her eyes fixed on the ground and remained silent. You would think after knowing her for so long, he would realize why she hated Paulina…

"Sam?"

"I don't know what you want me to say!" she yelled as she faced him for the first time, "Do you want me to go **apologise** to her, is **that** what you want?!"

"I don't want you to do anything Sam…" Danny shouted back.

Sam tore her angered gaze away from him as she looked back to the ground.

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry and that I would never call you, or ever think of you, as a freak…" he sighed sadly

"I know you wouldn't…" she muttered quietly, closing her eyes as her expression softened.

"I'm sorry Sam."

"It's ok Danny."

She turned and smiled at him, but there was something sad and forced about it. Danny didn't see this and smiled back, pulling her into a gentle hug.

"I think you're wonderful Sam…everything about you…" he whispered into her hair.

"Thanks Danny…" she murmured into his neck as she hugged him tighter, never wanting to let go.

After about 5 minutes, they slowly pulled away from each other. They remained inches apart, the small smile still on Danny's face as Sam's had long since faded away. They still had a hold of each other's hands, Danny watched her as she looked at grass again. Suddenly the bell went and all of the pupils made their way back inside. Danny and Sam sat there, gazed at each other for a minute, before Danny broke the gaze and stared at the ground.

"That was the bell…" he whispered quietly.

"Yeh…" she whispered back just as quietly.

"We should really go back inside…" he looked back up at her.

"Ok…" she smiled slightly as he helped her to her feet.

When they were both standing, something clicked inside her and Sam immediately broke into a run towards the school.

"RACE YOU!" she shouted back to him happily.

Danny stared at her for a moment in surprise at her sudden change of mood, but he wasn't complaining. He shook his head and ran after her towards the school.

Back in class 

"Where **were** you two?" Tucker huffed, "You just left me on my own in the canteen!"

"Sorry, we had…things to talk about," muttered Danny as Sam took a seat beside Tucker.

"Oh, like what?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Danny kicked him in the shin from under the table.

"None of your business!" he growled as he sat beside Sam.

"Was that really necessary?!" Tucker asked as he clutched his leg in pain.

"No, but it was fun!" he smirked.

Tucker rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'Ingrate! This is how I'm repaid for giving advise!' Danny shook his head. He would thank Tucker…but maybe later! Then he remembered,

"Tuck, do you know anything about the food fight in the canteen the other day?" he inquired.

Tucker's eyes widened as he realised that cleaning it must have been their detention.

"Um…uh…I-I…munmunmuph…" he mumbled into nothing, avoiding his look and blushing slightly in guilt.

Danny snorted and chanced a glance at Sam. She was still looking a bit down. He placed a hand on her shoulder, which caused her to look at him, blinking slightly as if just woken up.

"Are you ok Sam?"

She smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeh, I'm fine."

He leaned towards her so only she could hear him.

"Are we ok?" he asked sorrowfully.

"Of course we are," she whispered softly, "Forget about earlier Danny; it was just a stupid fight!"

Danny smiled at her before he was told by the teacher to be quiet and to read from the textbook in silence. The class groaned, but obeyed the teacher instructions. The boredom lasted for a full 35 minutes until the pupils were allowed to leave to attend their last. (I'll not bore you with the details; you have enough of that in school!) The three friends got up from their seats, stretched due to lack of movement, then walked off to their last, and favourite class; Chemistry!

"**Sweet**! Chemistry!" exclaimed Tucker happily, "I wonder what practical we're doing today!"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling it'll be good!" replied Danny.

When they reached their class, their teacher was outside of the classroom, ushering others in. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a loose red tie at the neck.

"All right sir?!" greeted Danny with a slight wave.

"All right folks? In you go so we can get this class started!" he said cheerfully rubbing his hands together.

He was a bald man of average height- many of his taller pupils towered over him! He wore thin-lensed glasses and always wore a suit to school! Danny and Sam took their seats with Tucker and Valerie opposite them. They were allowed to choose their seats at the start of the year and, because there were no more seats left, Valerie was forced to sit beside Tucker. Now a days, she didn't mind anymore and had actually grown quite fond of Tucker. When he took a seat beside her, she greeted him with a warm smile.

"Hi Tuck."

"Hey Val! Looking forward to the practical?"

"Sure. You?"

"Ecstatic!" he replied with a suggestive leap of his eyebrows. (NO, he wasn't flirting!)

"Ooohh! That's a big word Tucker!" joked Sam.

"Shut up!" he said dully with bored, half closed eyes.

"How long has this been going on?" inquired Valerie with a raised eyebrow.

"All day!" he replied sadly with tired eyes that cried 'you'll stick up for me, won't you?!'

"Ah, right folks shall we start the class?" asked the teacher.

"**YEH**!" the whole class shouted in unison.

"Good, now get on your white lab coats, safety glasses, beakers, uh test-tubes, Bunsen Burners, then come up to me and I'll give you some copper oxide and dilute sulphuric acid and you can start the practical!"

It wasn't one of the most **exciting** experiments done, but it was an experiment none the less, so the students weren't complaining. Everyone grabbed their lab coats and all the necessary equipment before collecting the chemicals from their teacher.

"Sir, how long will it take to form the crystals?" asked one of the boys at the back table.

The teacher referred to the boys at the back of the room as 'Back Benchers' and made many sarcastic jokes about their lack of intelligence and interests outside of school, despite this though they still liked him.

"Uh, it should be ready for when you get back after the weekend." He said while nodding.

"Can we keep them?!"

"Ah…no!" he laughed.

The teacher walked around the room and watched as everyone carried out their experiment. He tended to start talking about random things during the lesson and today was no exception!

"I remember when I was young and TV's were just being invented. I watched the very first episode of 'Blue Peter' in black and white, and there was a guy on, in his late twenties-early thirties, and he had a crystal of copper sulphate in a bin. He had been growing it since he was twelve and it was **huge**! Took him about seventeen years to grow!" he grinned widely. (Don't know if you've heard of 'Blue Peter', it might only be shown in the UK so bare with me!)

"Sir, what's the strongest acid in the world?" asked a 'Back Bencher' called Connor, completely changing the subject.

"The world's strongest acid? Uh…I don't know. I tell you what, I'll look it up on Wikipedia over the weekend and tell you on Monday, ok?!"

Everyone knew he loved Wikipedia- he hardly ever stopped talking about it, so they weren't surprised by his answer! Danny chuckled slightly and looked at the chemicals before him. Sam had set it all up and was stirring it as it was heated gently. Black precipitate was beginning to form on the bottom and the liquid was turning blue.

"Do you want to get some filter paper and a filter funnel?" she instructed rather than asked.

"No…" Danny stated as he watched her stir the solution.

Sam gave him a bored look that said 'That wasn't a question!'

"Ok, ok, since you asked so nicely!" he smirked.

He walked off and returned with the requested equipment to finish the experiment.

"I want to pour it in!" he laughed childishly as he grabbed the beaker after it had cooled.

Sam smiled and rolled her eyes at him as he began to pour the mixture into the filter paper inside the filter funnel. Danny glanced at Sam and smirked evilly. He began to pour more of the solution into the funnel until it was overflowing.

"**Danny**!" hissed Sam as she tried not to laugh.

"There's still some in the beaker!" he explained as the solution began to cover the table.

"What are you two **doing**?!" exclaimed Tucker in amusement.

"It's not me, it's **him**!" accused Sam, "**Danny**! You're making a mess! Stop it before we get in trouble!"

"**Ok**, ok!" he huffed.

He saw the teacher approach out of the corner of his eye and decide to torture her further.

"**Sam**! I **told** you it'd overflow!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Sam gaped at him and stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't move then, I'll get some paper to clean it!" he said sarcastically before walking off.

The teacher raised an eyebrow at her.

"That was so not me!" she stated bluntly.

He nodded and smirked in understanding before walking off. Danny looked over to her from across the room and waved. Sam glared at him, but softened it with a smile.

'Your **dead**!' she mouthed to him as the bell went.

"Uh, right! Clear up everything, put your copper sulphate in an evaporating dish at the window and I'll see you on Monday!" announced the teacher as he packed up his own briefcase.

Danny and Sam quickly cleaned their table and put away the equipment. Danny ran out of the room with everyone else to escape Sam's wrath, leaving her to place their solution at the window and take off after him.

"Thank you sir!" she shouted after her.

"All right, that'll do for today!" he replied as he locked the door.

Sam ran to her locker, dumped her books in her locker, grabbed her bag and searched for any sign of Danny or Tucker. They were nowhere in sight.

'_Figures he warn Tucker!'_ she thought to herself as she made her way out of school and walked home alone.

(Thank you to everyone who reviewed and, for the record, I don't own anything that was underlined in this chapter! R&R please.)


	9. Chapter 9

It was now a Friday afternoon; school was over, the sun was shinning brightly and there was no homework to do over the weekend. (If only it became a reality!) Sam would get them back for running off without her, but for now it was the perfect time to relax, enjoy life and hang out with some of your best friends…or so she thought!

"Hey Danny," she spoke into her house phone.

"Oh, hey Sam. What's up? –**Crash**-"

"Apart from abandoning me in Chemistry, nothin'!"

"Oh, yeh! Sorry about that, you know I was only kidding! -**Thud**- Besides I thought you were going to kill me!"

"It's on my to-do list! Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to go to the cinema or something with me and Tucker?"

"Oh Sam, I'd love to, but my mum's making me and Jazz help her clean the house! –** Bang- Ow**!** JAZZ **that was **my foot!**"

Sam chuckled slightly as she heard Jazz faintly apologising sarcastically in the background.

"Look Sam, I'm really sorry…maybe some other time?" he suggested guiltily.

"…Yeh, no problem!"

"You and Tucker go and enjoy it without me, ok?"

"Yeh, ok…don't wreck your house too much!

"I'll try!" he laughed.

"See ya Danny…"

"Bye Sam."

Unknown to Danny, there was a problem. Tucker also had things to do around his house- he had to update his PDA, sort the files on his computer and other techno-geek stuff that I won't go into detail with! Sam had only mentioned Tucker to try and make Danny more interested in coming. Now, she was forced to stay cooped up in a house, on her own and bored out of her mind. Her parents weren't there since they had left on a business trip across town and wouldn't be back until a few days later, and Sam had sent the maids home early to enjoy the wonderful day. Well, she didn't think it was a wonderful day- she still hated the sun! But being outside in that sort of weather is probably better than being inside in that sort of weather- less chance of melting under the heat! (Not literally of course!) So, Sam decided to leave her house in search of something **fun** to do…on her own…with no friends…

"-**Sigh**- Things are never the same when you're on your own!" she thought sadly aloud to herself.

Sam headed out the door and strode down the street to the park. She was in no rush to get anywhere so she took her time, admiring all of the nature around her- the birds twittering in the trees, butterflies fluttering randomly about in the air, squirrels foraging in the bushes for food; their bushy tails flicking smoothly behind them. Sam smiled to herself as she watched them. She soon approached the park and her smile faded away. Dash and his A-List friends were picking on some of the small children playing in the park, and a certain little girl was crying. Sam, infuriated, marched straight over to Dash and his friends. Dash had little time to register that she was even standing before him, let alone that she had drawn back her fist and punched him hard in the face. He stumbled back, yelling in pain and surprise and holding his left cheek. As he finally noticed her presence, he straightened himself up, fists clenched, and stepped towards her.

"You punched me!" he growled in anger.

"Well done genius! Did you realise that before or after your facial?!"

She smirked in satisfaction as he slowly took in what she had implied.

Dash raised his fist and took a threatening step forward, "Why I oughta-"

"Hey, you got a problem with me, then you'd better stop picking on innocent little children!" shouted Sam as she too stepped forward.

Their faces were inches apart, filled with hate and anger as they glared daggers at each other. Fires of hatred danced in their eyes, lasting about 2 minutes before Dash backed down and stepped away. Sam smiled in triumph and crossed her arms.

"This ain't over **Manson**! I'll get you for this!" he shook his fist in the air.

Sam merely rolled her eyes and waved mockingly at him.

"Bye Dash!" she said while smiling evilly.

Dash sent her one last glare before storming off with his friends.

"Oh, I will have my revenge Manson! Believe you me!" he whispered under his breath.

Sam turned to the little girl who Dash had being terrorising and saw that she had stopped crying. She was very small, only about 5 years old. She was wearing a summery yellow dress with a pink flower on the front. Her shoulder length hair was brown and hanging loosely behind her. She had a thumb in her mouth and was staring intently up at Sam with her innocent bright green eyes. Sam crouched down to her level, leaning one hand on the ground for support.

"Are you ok?" Sam asked kindly, her aggressive, gothic exterior melting away at the sight of the child's innocence.

The little girl nodded her head shyly, with her thumb still in her mouth, stretched out her hand that held a white daisy and offered it to Sam. Sam stared at it for a moment before smiling and taking the flower delicately from her. She looked down at it in her own hand, and caressed the texture of the leaves with her thumbs. Looking up to thank the little girl, Sam noticed that she had disappeared. Stunned at the speed at which she had left by, Sam looked around her to try and spot her, but she was nowhere in sight. Standing back up, she gazed at the flower once more before putting it carefully in her pocket. Taking one more glance around the park, she left to find something else to occupy her time.

**Lets just cut to Danny for a second to see what he's up to…**

"Here Danny, these can go in your room," instructed Jazz while handing him a box of ghost hunting equipment.

"**Hey**! Just because I have to hunt ghosts doesn't mean I want my room full of ecto-sensitive **weapons**!" he complained.

"Oh don't be such a big baby; they're switched off!"

"But they're **sharp**!" he whined pathetically.

"-**Dramatic sigh** - Just hurry up Danny!" she growled, rummaging through another box.

Pouting, he made his way up the stairs, mumbling, "I could be out with Sam and Tucker instead of doing this!"

**LOL! Anyway, back to Sam…**

It was getting late and Sam was **still** wondering around Amity like a lost soul. She visited every nook and cranny of the city, and nothing interested her in the slightest. The only upside to the day was when she hit Dash in the face and, just a few minutes ago, witnessed a distressed Paulina running around like an insane person searching for her long lost lip-gloss, with her hair still dyed green! Sam was about to surrender to the boredom when she heard the faint sound of rolling wheels on concrete followed by a slam on the ground and a few clatters afterwards. She cocked an eyebrow and followed the sounds that lead her down an unfamiliar alleyway. As she ventured deeper down the ally, the sounds grew louder and a few cheers could be heard along with more taps that sounded like wood on cement.

She peeked around the corner to make sure it was safe before stepping forwards towards the culprits of all the racket. She allowed her mouth to hang open slightly in awe as her eyes beheld a secluded skate park. It wasn't the fanciest place in the world, but it was amazing for Sam, and the local skaters! The park was square shaped area that had three building walls along two sides and at the back. There were a few concrete quarter pipes lined along a sidewall and a wooden half-pipe was set up against the back wall. There was a trick box in the middle of the park, in line with one of the larger quarter pipes to gain bigger air. The trick box was equipped with a ledge along the side and a railing in the middle for possible grinding. All in all, it was very impressive considering the region where it was built.

Sam decided it wouldn't hurt if she stayed for a while, to admire the skills being preformed. Most of the skaters were boys, save for a few girls who were hanging out with a board in their hands. There seemed to be a friendly competition on as many skaters were lined up on the quarter pipe watching others and waiting for their turn. They were all good spirited as every time someone pulled off an impressive trick, they tapped their boards on the ground as a sign of respect. One skater in particular was totally ripping the park apart, and everyone was cheering and 'board tapping' in approval. He was wearing baggy blue 'kickflip' jeans with a black baggy T-shirt, which was ripped at one sleeve and at the bottom, and read "Soul Skater" on the front in forest green with red and yellow flames in the background. His hair was black with red dye in some areas and slightly spiked.

He was going up the quarter pipes and performing lip tricks in front of the onlookers. He would then manual over to the trick box and grind along the sides. Everyone was cheering and by now Sam had entered the park and was now clapping herself. The skater noticed her presence and, smiling to himself, went all out to impress her! He turned his board and, giving himself a few pushes, headed for the quarter pipe nearest Sam and proceeded up it. He then grabbed the edge of the board with his feet still leaning against it and turned 360 degrees in the air- performing a 'Melon'! It was going well until, during the landing, the tail of the board whacked the top of the quarter pipe and sent the board rolling away to the left and the skater rolling to the right. He landed right at Sam's feet. He grinned sheepishly up at her as she looked down at him in shock.

"Uh…hi!"

(If you don't understand some of the terms I've used, please tell me and I'll explain! Review please! P.S. What do you think is a better name- Alex or Aaron?)


	10. Chapter 10

"Uh…hi!" he greeted randomly.

"Oh my God! Are you alright?" asked Sam as she helped the boy to his feet.

"Yeh, I'll live." He said kindly while brushing himself off.

"Your knee's bleeding!" gasped Sam as she pointed at his trousers.

The boy looked down at his knee and noticed the blood.

"Oh yeh! And I ripped my jeans…aw well!" he shrugged as he pulled at the tear in his trousers.

He sat down beside Sam and carefully rolled up his trouser leg. Sam knelt down in front of him to inspect the damage. It wasn't too bad, but Sam winced at the sight of his skinned leg.

"Don't like blood, huh?" he asked Sam.

"No, it just it looks pretty sore!"

"Nah, I've had worse. This is just a scratch! It'll stop bleeding in a second…"

He held his knee with one hand so the pressure would stop the bleeding and offered his other to Sam.

"I'm Alex O'Hare."

"Sam Manson," she replied while shaking his hand.

"Cool. Nice to meet you Sam."

Sam smiled and looked off to the other skaters who continued their competition. Some of the skaters began to leave and patted Alex on his shoulder and ruffled his hair while saying 'hard luck', 'good skating' or 'nice try' as they left. Alex smirked and waved goodbye to them since they were all friends and he knew they were just kidding before he turned back to Sam.

"Do you come here often?" he asked with genuine interest.

"No…I just found this place today!"

"Do you skate?"

Sam laughed and turned her attention back to him.

"I wouldn't know the first thing about skateboarding!" she admitted.

He smiled at the sound of her laughter.

"It's easy! It's like roller blading except you're on a board and you can jump off whenever you lose your balance."

"Like you did on the slope?!" she asked sarcastically with a grin.

"Quarter pipe!" he corrected, "And that was different, I thought I was gonna land it!"

"Well, what happened?"

"The tail of the board hit the top of the quarter pipe and sent it flying in the other direction! I had no other option but to take the fall."

"Ouch!" she stated sympathetically.

"Huh, it's not as bad as what I did yesterday! You see that half-pipe?"

He motioned towards the wooden structure that looked like a combination of two quarter pipes along the back wall. Sam followed his finger and nodded.

"I was tryin' to pull off a trick on it, but I went too far off to the right and I landed flat on the ground!"

"Oh my God…" breathed Sam.

"Yeh, you should see my shoulder…"

He moved the neck of his T-shirt carefully to reveal a large, black and blue bruise that covered his left shoulder. It looked extremely painful, and Sam let out a small hissing sound at the sight of it. He smirked in satisfaction at her expression.

"Cool, huh?"

"Hardly!" she exclaimed, "You could do yourself a serious injury if you keep it up! You could break your neck!"

He chuckled in amusement.

"I don't think so! I'm not that bad am I?! Besides, the more scars you have here, the more respect you get!"

"Why?" asked Sam in confusion.

"Because it means your actually tryin' to skate- that you've tried daring things, you don't mind messin' up and have learnt from your mistakes!"

Sam stared intently at him and smiled- it made sense.

"So you've made a lot of mistakes!" she joked.

"Yeh and I still haven't learnt anything!"

They both laughed and watched the others skate around the park. Suddenly Alex had an idea.

"Hey, do wanna learn to skate?"

This caused Sam to laugh, but on seeing his serious expression, she stopped.

"Are you serious?"

He nodded his head.

"I don't know, after what you've told me, I think I've been put off for life!"

"Yeh right, I bet your dying to try it out! Besides, I wont let anything bad happen to you…"

Sam watched him carefully.

"…I promise."

'_He seems sincere…why not!'_ she thought to herself.

"Ok, sure. Teach me everything you know!"

He smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Well, that won't take long!" he joked.

Sam smiled and glanced at her watch.

"…Oh, but maybe tomorrow. It's getting late and my parents will be getting home soon…they don't like me being late!"

"Oh, ok. Where do you live?" he inquired while standing up and offering Sam his hand.

"Just a couple of blocks away…I think!" she wondered while accepting his hand and being pulled to her feet.

"You think?!" Alex laughed.

"Well I don't exactly know where here is!" she said sarcastically while motioning to her surroundings.

Sam had wandered pretty far in her attempt to find something fun to do; she could be anywhere!

"Ha, right! Well, do you know the park?"

"Yeh?"

"Well, we're two blocks away from the park!"

"Oh ok, thanks…uh…which direction?!"

Alex chuckled slightly and, grabbing his skateboard, led her out of the ally. They reached the street and he pointed down the road to the left.

"Follow that path and you should reach the park. Do you know where to go from there?"

"Yeh, I think I'll be ok!" she laughed while blushing slightly.

"Hmmm…I think I'll walk you home though…"

Sam gave him a questioning look.

"Just to be sure you get there safely! You don't mind, do you?"

"Well, no…I just thought you would have wanted to skate a while longer…"

"Nah, it's ok. I should really be getting home too before my dad kills me!"

Sam smiled as they set off down the road towards the park.

"Sooo, where do you live?" asked Sam as an awkward silence began to form.

"I live in an apartment near that 'Fenton Works' place with my dad…"

"What about your mum?"

"Uh…she died a couple of years ago…" he said quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said softly, regretting bringing it up.

"It's ok…after she died, me and my dad moved here so he could get a new job…he works at 'Bucky's Music Megastore' so I get discount on all the CD's!"

"Oh cool, what sort of music are you in to?"

"Well, I like a mixture of bands; I like country western and heavy metal the best. I actually discovered a new band earlier today called Nightwish. The song Nemo is extremely addictive, do you wanna hear?"

"Yeh, sure."

He smiled and pulled out a battered black iPod from his trouser pocket. Somehow, it managed to work even after Alex's fall. He handed her an earpiece and pressed at the buttons with his thumb until he found the right track. He walked closer beside Sam so that neither of their earpieces would fall out mid song. It was a very good, but it had quite sad lyrics. Some particular lyrics had an impact on Sam;

'**Oh how I wish  
For soothing rain  
All I wish is to dream again**

**My loving heart  
Lost in the dark  
For hope I'd give my everything…'**

'My loving heart lost in the dark…wow…I wonder what she was thinking about when she was writing that song…it's so sad…' Sam thought to herself, 'For hope I'd give my everything…I'd give anything for hope as well…'

Sam was always one to try and find the hidden meanings in songs and tried to read between the lines a little.

'Perhaps it's a little obvious that she may be singing about a lost love…maybe she's confused about something and is losing her faith…maybe I'm reading too much into this! It is only a song! But then again, a song without a reason is just an empty tune…'

While Sam continued to find reason in the lyrics, Alex was just happy to have someone share the same taste in music as him, and to have someone to walk with. So, he settled with nodding his head slightly to the music.

'…**Nemo, my name for evermore'  
**

As the lasts words were sang the music slowed until it stopped. Alex smiled and looked down at Sam for her opinion of the song as he put his iPod away.

"Wow, that was brilliant! But, what does Nemo mean?" asked Sam.

"Nemo's Latin for nobody."

"Nobody…my name for evermore…"

"Yeh…kinda puts it in perspective for you, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, aren't we all nobodies in this world of ours? It can be a very lonely experience for some people unless you have someone to share it with- whether its your family, your friends or the love of your life."

Sam smiled as she remembered the good times she's shared with her friends- movies, ghost fighting, even study nights! They've always managed to cheer her up when she was down, but then again, Tucker caused more trouble than he solved! She was starting to realize that, despite Alex's appearance, he was a really sensitive guy when it came to this sort of stuff- but obviously not towards injuries!

"You really appreciate everyone in your life, don't you?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yeh…more than they'll know…"

As they approached the park, they turned in the direction of Sam's house. She felt that she could trust him enough to like her for who she is, and not for how much money she had. Besides, he seemed friendly towards her even before he saw her house. As it came into view, Alex mouth fell open.

"Wow, you live here?!" he asked in astonishment.

"Yeh, but it's not all that great."

"Are you kidding?! I'd **kill** for a place like this."

Sam gave him a look.

"Not literally!" he laughed.

"Thank god!" she said sarcastically.

"Although…!"

He raised an eyebrow and placed his hand on her right shoulder fairly close to her neck. Sam gave him a startled look and stepped away from him slightly.

"Relax! I'm just messin' with ya!" he laughed.

"**Don't do that**! For all I know you could have been- I barely know you!" she shouted in fake anger and hit him playfully in the arm.

"And yet, you allowed me to walk you home!" he said with a smirk.

Sam opened her mouth for a comeback, but closed it when she couldn't think of one. She **had** put a lot of trust in him, but then…he **did** seem like a nice guy, and he was being very honest with her. Seeing her blank expression as she contemplated how open she had been with him, he smiled and spoke reassuringly.

"Don't worry, you can trust me. Besides, we need to know a bit about each other if I'm gonna teach you to skate!"

"Good point!"

"Right so are you gonna give me your number?"

"Huh?"

"So I can call you and arrange a time and place to skate at!"

"Oh, right!" Sam blushed slightly at her stupidity and took out her cell phone.

She was about to call out her number to him when she stopped. Aaron looked at her in confusion.

"What's up?"

"I still don't know if I can trust you…" she said quietly with an eyebrow raised.

Alex simply smiled in understanding.

"I tell you what," he started as he held out his skateboard, "This is my only board."

"…Poor you!" she stated sarcastically after staring at it for a few moments.

He started laughing at her statement.

"I'm gonna trust you to mind my board until our first lesson tomorrow, ok. So you can trust me with your number."

Sam smiled and took his skateboard as she gave him her cell phone number. After the exchange was made, they stared at each other for a minute.

"Right!" he smiled.

"Right…"

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeh."

"Have a good night!"

"Same to you. C-ya."

"C-ya! And look after that board!"

"Will do!"

Alex walked off down the street as Sam disappeared into her house.

'_Well, that was interesting!'_ she mused to herself.

(Decided to go with Alex cause it seemed more popular and some people haven't really heard of the name Aaron! Hope everyone has a great holloween- whether you're scaring little kids or just relaxing with a box of sweets while watching a horror film, hope you enjoy yourself! R&R please!)


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh Sammykins, you're just in time!" greeted her mother as she approached Sam, "Me and your father were watching an interesting show about peer groups and- **what is that**?!"

Pamela pointed at the battered board in Sam's hand with a disgusted look on her face.

"This? It's a skateboard!"

"Why on earth have you got one? **And in our house**!" she shrieked.

"I'm minding it for someone!" Sam stated as she marched up the stairs to her room.

"What…What sort of people does our daughter **mingle** with?!" Pamela cried to no one in particular before running off to find her husband.

As soon as Sam entered her room and slammed the door, her cell phone began to ring from its holder. With the board still in her hand, she lay on the bed and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"**Sam**? Man, I've been calling you for ages, where've you been?!" exclaimed Danny down the phone.

"Oh, sorry I was…out…" she replied as she placed the skateboard on her stomach.

"Doing what?! Tucker called and told me he wasn't going to the cinema with you- that he had things to do too!"

"Oh, just…things…looking for something to waste my time on!" she joked.

"Find anything good?"

Sam stared down at the board in thought whiled twirling one of the wheels.

"…No, nothing of interest…"

"Huh, well, better luck next time! We were thinking about going to the park tomorrow, do you wanna come?"

"Oh, I can't Danny, sorry."

"Oh…that's ok…you're owed a day from us anyway since, you know, we left you on your own today and it wouldn't be fair if you had to spend your whole life with us, not that I'm saying you want to or anything but-"

"Danny! Relax! It's ok; I understand what you're saying! Thanks." Sam interrupted before he could continue his rambling.

"Ha, right…um, no problem Sam. I hope your parents don't torture you too much with whatever they've got planned! Maybe I'll see you tomorrow for the night patrol?" he said hopefully.

"Yeh, I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Ok, well…night Sam."

"Night Danny."

Sam put the phone back in its holder and sighed.

'_Why did you lie to him?! There's no reason to keep skateboarding lessons a secret!'_ her mind screamed at her.

"I didn't **lie**! He…**assumed** I had things to do with my parents!" she spoke aloud to herself.

'Well you didn't tell him you **didn't**, so it counts as a lie!' 

"Whatever! He won't care! He probably won't even find out!"

'Don't be so sure…' 

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

'Nothing, but things like these always get found out. You're only making it worse for yourself by lying about it-'

"**I didn't lie about it!**" she shouted.

"What was that honey?" called her father.

"Uh…nothing!" Sam shouted back.

Sam looked down at the battered board in front of her before sighing and shaking her head. She put it, carefully, to the side and got dressed for another nights sleep.

The next morning, Sam awoke with a start- jumping out of bed with fright and falling to the floor. Her phone woke her up from a peaceful dream where Paulina was getting booed at Sing-star. She groaned in annoyance and, rubbing her eyes, she sat up off the floor and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?" she said groggily.

"Not much of a morning person, huh?" came a male voice from the other end.

"Who is this?" she yawned down the phone.

"It's Alex, you know, the stranger who walked you home last night!" he joked.

"Oh hi Alex! What's up?"

"Nothin'! Just wondering if you want to have a session down at the skate park?"

"At this time?! Don't you think it's a little early?" she said as she glanced at her alarm clock that flashed 07:00.

"No, I always get up at this time! Means I have more time to do whatever I want instead of wasting time in bed!"

"Uh-huh!" she groaned sleepily.

"Besides, the park is usually empty at this time so we'll have it all to ourselves and you can fall as many times as you want without feeling embarrassed!"

"Good point! All right, I'll meet you there in…10 minutes, ok?"

"Yep! See you there, and don't forget the skateboard!"

"I won't!"

"Later!"

"Bye."

Sam threw the phone on her bed and jumped to her feet, grabbing some clothes and running into the bathroom to wash and change. She emerged wearing a pair of black jeans and a black T-shirt with a realistic skull with his mouth agape on the front and back, surrounded by green flames. (I have that!) She grabbed the skateboard and sneaked her way down stairs. She had a feeling her parents were still asleep and if she managed to sneak out of the house without waking them, she wouldn't see them until later that night and she wouldn't get a lecture on being a 'normal' kid! She carefully opened the door just wide enough for her to squeeze through when-

"And where do you think you're going little missy?!"

Sam spun round to be met with…her grandmother!

"-**Sigh**- Oh, thank God it's just you Grandma! I was trying to 'sneak' out so I could go skateboarding with a new friend!"

"Skateboarding huh? Dangerous sport, very risky…"

Sam blinked at her grandmother, hoping she wouldn't tell her not to go.

"Well, don't have too much fun! I'll cover for you when the party poopers ask where you've gone!"

"Thank you so much!" she whispered while she gave her a quick hug.

Sam jumped out the door and closed it gently behind her. She sighed, thankful she escaped the house without trouble, and glanced at her watch.

07:08!

"**Oh my God**!"

Sam jumped down the steps in front of her house and ran to the skate park. When she arrived, she was gasping for breath and leaning over herself. Alex raised an eyebrow at her, glanced at his watch and slide down from on top of the quarter pipe.

"You're late!" he informed with a smile.

Sam glanced at her watch- 07:11.

"**Gee**!" she breathed before sitting on the ground in exhaustion.

"Well, at least you remembered the skateboard! Wouldn't have gone far without that!" he joked.

Sam didn't respond but sat there still trying to catch her breath. He walked towards her, picked up the board and held his hand out to her. She rolled her eyes and took a hold of his hand. She was half way off the ground when he released his grip and she fell back to the ground on her butt! She looked up at him, wide eyed and in shock.

"**OW**!" she yelled sarcastically, although it did sorta hurt!

"Lesson 1: get use to pain cause you'll have worse falls than that!" he spoke as he leant down to her level.

Sam smirked and grabbed his T-shirt, pulling him down beside her.

"Uh…**ow**!" he laughed.

"And here's your first lesson: do that again and you'll learn the true meaning of the word pain!"

Alex gave her a terrified look and shuddered at the thought of what she might do.

"Ok, ok! I'm just tryin' to teach you! I won't do it again!" he assured while standing up.

Sam got to her feet and followed Alex into the park.

"Ok, the first **real** thing you gotta learn in order to skate is **balance**! If ya can't balance you're gonna fall on your face, and that'd be a shame with your good looks!"

Sam blinked at him as a small rush of blood came to her cheeks.

'_Oh my God, is he flirting with me?!'_ she thought in surprise.

Alex continued talking as if nothing of the sort was said.

"So, jump on the board -not **literally**!- and I'll help you with your stance."

Alex dropped the board on the ground and Sam put her foot on the board. He offered her his hand for balance, which she gratefully took, as she placed her other foot on the board. Immediately she could feel herself losing balance and she panicked. Alex shot his other hand up and grabbed hers so she couldn't roll away. They stood like that for a while; both holding hands and looking down at the board to make sure it didn't move. Realising what she was doing, Sam looked up at Alex in embarrassment to find he was already staring at her and smiling in amusement. Sam could feel another blush appear as she tightened her grip on him when she felt the board jolt to the side slightly.

"Ready to try it on your own?"

Sam looked at him in uncertainty. She knew that if he were to let go, she'd lose control and fall off.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you," he said softly.

Sam gave him a questioning look and raised an eyebrow.

"I promise."

Sam swallowed hard and gave him one more wary glance before nodding her head. He slowly released his grip on her hands and allowed her to balance by herself. Surprisingly, the board remained static and Sam stood there with her arms outstretched just encase. Alex smiled and motioned to her with his hand.

"See? It isn't so hard! So, you wanna try that while you're moving?"

"Not reall-**YYYY**!"

Sam screamed in fright as Alex began to push her lightly, causing the board to roll forward. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her hand in his.

"Wanna try going faster?!" he smirked.

"**Please don't**!" she gasped.

"Please do?! Ok!"

He began to run forward with Sam screaming on the board next to him. They were heading right for a quarter pipe and Alex wasn't slowing down. She held her breath as she went up the quarter pipe slightly and came back down again. Losing balance on returning to flat ground, the board flew forward from under her, sending her backwards. Sam gasped, expecting to hit the hard ground, to find two arms wrapped around her waist. She looked up to see Alex smiling down at her.

"Told ya I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you!"

(Sorry for not updating in…well…ages! The story might, **might**, be discontinued…though it will get more interesting whenever he meets Danny…)


	12. Chapter 12

It was now noon and Sam had been practising balancing on the board non-stop until she had finally gotten the hang of it. She was now able to give herself a gentle push with her right leg before placing it on the board behind her left leg and travel forwards without wobbling. Alex was very impressed that she had adapted to it so easily and as more people arrived at the park, he decided to give her a break. Alex ran up the quarter pipe and sat on the top, waiting for Sam to join him. After several attempts to run up the slope, Alex helped pull her up so she sat on his left with the board on her knees. They watched the other skaters for a while until Sam broke the silence.

"Those guys are really good!" she observed.

"You think so?" Alex asked.

"Yeh! They must have a natural gift!"

"Nah, they just had good lessons! You'll be able to do that in time, just be patient."

"One of my specialities when hanging out with my friends!" she said sarcastically.

Alex chuckled slightly and continued to watch the other skaters.

"How long have you been skating?" she asked quietly.

"Hmmm…since I was about seven I think. I've had a lot of practise at it so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doin'!" he joked.

Sam smiled at him. He had a wonderful sense of humour; he always seemed happy for some reason.

"Have you any other hobbies apart from this?"

"Well…not really…my dad and I go fishing in the summer and I play the guitar a bit, but that's about it. What about you?"

"Well…" she hesitated, sneaking a glance at him before making her decision, "Me and my friends kind of go ghost hunting at night!"

"Ghost hunting! Cool! Ever catch any?"

"Yeh, a few! My friend, Danny Fenton…his parents are ghost hunters and make these weapons to fight them with!"

"Oh, so that's what that Fenton Works is- a Ghost Hunting Service!"

"Yeh, but they're pretty cool parents!"

"I'm sure they are. Hey, you think I could tag along sometime; learn the ropes? You could teach me!"

"Oh uh, I don't know…" Sam began.

"Oh...well that's alright! Your friends probably don't want me to get involved- it is your thing after all, I wouldn't want to intrude!"

Despite Alex's cheerful attitude, Sam felt a rush of guilt wash over her. He was teaching her to skate after all; why not teach him to hunt ghosts? Besides, they could use all the help they could get!

"No, come along; I'm sure my friends won't mind!"

"Really? You don't mind?"

"No, it'll be fine," she assured while patting him on the shoulder.

"Sweet! Thanks. Do you guys go hunting every night or just certain nights?"

"Well, we do a night patrol sometimes, but Danny does it every night-"

Sam stopped what she was saying before she let anything slip. She wasn't sure if Danny was ok with him knowing; he hadn't even met him yet, and she certainly wasn't going to blab his secret it to every person she meets- there was just something different about Alex that made him so easy to talk to.

"He does! Man, that's rough! I kinda feel sorry for him!" he said sadly.

"We all do…"

"Well, are you going on one tonight?"

"Yeh, around 9:00pm I think. We're all meeting outside Danny's. If you want, I could get you before we meet so, you know, you don't have to come alone!"

"Yeh, sure that'd be great!"

"Where do you live again?"

"About two blocks down the road past the Fenton works; on the left you'll see an apartment. I live on the third floor, door 139. You can't miss it; it's near the elevator!"

"Right, I'll come over about 8:50?"

"Sure, that's fine by me!"

"Ok." She smiled.

"So, do you wanna do some more skating?" he asked as he pointed to the board in her hands.

"Sure! I can't wait until you teach me how to do that!"

Sam pointed towards one of the skaters who preformed an Ollie over one of the trick box sides. Alex laughed and grabbed the board off of Sam.

"One thing at a time!"

He placed the tail of the board on the edge of the quarter pipe and stepped on it. Leaning forward, he glided down the quarter pipe with ease and did a swift turn to face Sam.

"Ok, you **have** to teach me that!" she laughed as she slid down the slope.

**Meanwhile, elsewhere…**

"Hey Tuck!" called Danny.

"Hey Danny! No Sam?" Tucker questioned as he looked around the park.

"No, she couldn't make it. She had something to do at home with her parents!"

"Uh-oh, that can't be good!" he laughed.

"I know. So what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know…we could go to the arcade?" suggested Tucker.

"Nah, I'm getting bored of that place!"

"The mall?"

"Ugh, my parents are there! The last thing I want is for one of their 'inventions' to go off in the middle of the shop and zap me in front of everyone in school!"

They both thought for a moment before deciding on going to see a new movie about vampires in the cinema. When they arrived, Tucker ordered the tickets as Danny collected the food and drinks. It took a while for Tucker to meet up with Danny as he was trying to flirt with the woman at the till- lets just say, it didn't end well! When they entered the correct room, they were shocked to find it empty! Everyone must have been outside enjoying the beautiful weather. So, they took a seat at the very back, right under the window for the projector, and put their feet up on the chairs in front of them. While the previews were up, they created figures on the screen with their hands- they had seen them all before and, quite frankly, car adds are very boring in a cinema; especially since you can't fast forward it! After a few laughs and Danny falling carelessly over the seats into the next row, they made small talk until the movie started.

"Man, Sam would have loved this!" exclaimed Tucker as he stuffed his face full of popcorn.

"I know! An empty theatre, lots of vegetarian-friendly food and a movie about vampires! She's gonna be kicking herself when she hears about this…"

'_Not to mention sitting in a dark room with your long-time crush beside you for 2 hours!'_ thought Tucker in amusement, just about able to hide his smile from Danny.

"I wonder why she didn't come," Danny thought sadly out loud.

"I thought you said she had something to do with her parents?"

"I did…but maybe I heard her wrong! I mean what in the** world** could she be doing with her parents!"

"I don't know…trying to prevent another restraining order against **you**!" Tucker teased.

"**Ha**, maybe!" Danny smirked.

There was a silence.

"Maybe she lied…" muttered Tucker more to himself than Danny.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, I'm just saying, maybe she lied about having something else to do."

"Why would she lie to us? We're her best friends?"

"I don't know…maybe she had stuff to think about…"

"Like what?"

"**I don't know!**"

"Come on Tucker, yes you do! What stuff!"

"**Dude**! The movie's starting!" Tucker said pointing at the screen beforestuffing his face full of popcorn once more.

Sighing in defeat, Danny turned back to the screen in front of him and watched the movie.

_'I guess I'll just ask her when I see her later tonight…'_ he thought sadly.

Tucker, on the other hand, sighed in relief and smiled to himself, leaning back in his chair.

_'PHEW! That was a close one!'_

Later that day, way after skateboarding had lessons ended and Sam and Alex went their separate ways, she began to make her way from her house at 8:50pm to his apartment so they could start the ghost patrol. She followed his directions- past the Fenton Works, two blocks down the road on the left until she came across a run down looking building with graffiti all over the walls.

'_No way does he live here,'_ she thought to herself but decided to check anyway- there was no other apartment block in sight.

'_Third floor, door 139'_ she thought to herself as she entered an elevator to the right of the front door. The elevator was a dark red colour and singed by cigarettes, she presumed, in some areas. As the doors closed, it made a creaking sound that was less than comforting at the safety of it and the light above her flashed on and off! Travelling up it, strange sounds could be heard and Sam developed this image of the elevator wire snapping and her falling to her death- she had quite a vivid imagination! As soon as it reached the third floor, Sam jumped out of the elevator just to escape to somewhere safer than in there! She looked around her, taking in her battered surroundings before starting down the hall to find Alex's apartment. Sure enough, it wasn't far from the 'death hazard' of an elevator and she timidly knocked the door. A tall man with a pair of baggy trousers on and a long sleeve shirt answered the door and raised an eyebrow kindly at her.

"Uh…hi?" his voice was deep but kind.

""Hi…does Alex O'Hare live here?" she asked politely.

"Yeh, hold on sec. ALEX!"

"WHAT?" called a voice.

"DOOR!" he bellowed as he turned back to Sam.

"So how do you know my son?" he asked curiously.

"Um, he's teaching me how to skate…"

"Oh **right**! Your Sam!" he smiled.

"Yeh…" she smiled shyly back.

"He's been telling me a lot about you! Says you're taking him ghost hunting! Just be careful!"

'_He's been talking about me? Wow…wait a minute, __**what**__! I only __**met**__ him yesterday, he's just a __**friend**__ and…I like __**Danny**__…so why should I care…?' _

"Oh don't worry, I'll look out for him!" she reassured, blushing slightly at her thoughts.

"I wasn't talking about him!" he chuckled kindly, "It's a dangerous world out there for a young lady like yourself!"

Sam smiled shyly as Alex appeared behind him.

"Hey Sam!" he smiled as he threw on a loose jacket.

"Hey!"

"Ready to go?" he asked as he manoeuvred past his dad.

"Yeh," she replied, "It was nice to meet you Mr O'Hare!"

"Same to you. Stay safe out there!" he called to them as they walked towards the lift.

"We will!" Alex called back with a wave, "So are you ready to teach me how to hunt ghosts?" he asked Sam.

"Yeh, but first things first," Alex looked at her, "Can we please take the stairs!"

(Will it end well, or in tears, you'll just have to wait…by the way, HAPPY EASTER TO EVERYONE! Hope you all get lots of chocolate eggs!)


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey Sam!" Danny greeted.

He smiled warmly at her then turned his attention to the boy beside her.

"Who's this?" he questioned in a more defensive tone.

"This is Alex O'Hare. I met him yesterday while I was out wandering the streets!" she motioned with her hand towards him.

"Hey Alex, I'm Tucker Foley; 'professional ghost hunter and computer genius, all rolled into one lovable babe-magnet'!" boasted Tucker proudly as he lifted his hand.

"Nice to meet you Tucker!" Alex laughed as he shook his hand cheerfully and looked him over, "And this must by Danny Fenton!"

He smiled at Danny who simple stared at him in confusion and anger. Alex stretched out his hand for Danny to shake.

"Good to finally meet you!" Alex continued grinning.

Danny looked down at his outstretched hand before looking back up at him. Alex smile faltered slightly and he chuckled nervously as he retracted his hand.

"So, what are you in to?" inquired Tucker, sneaking a glance at Danny.

"Uh, I guess you could say I'm an 'urban skater' and, hopefully, soon to be ghost hunter-"

"Says who?!" interrupted Danny bluntly.

"Says me!" defended Sam, "We need all the help we can get out here!"

"Damn right!" muttered Tucker in agreement.

"You can't just pick nobody's off the street to help us!" informed Danny rudely.

"He's not a **nobody**- he's a **legend**! Best skater I've ever met!" exclaimed Sam as she folded her arms.

Alex smirked and blushed slightly at the compliment as he stared intently at his black Converse as if they were the most interesting things in the world.

"And besides, I owe him!" she continued.

"Owe him? For what?!" asked an exasperated Danny.

"He's teaching me to skate…"

Danny and Tucker looked at Sam for a moment before Tucker burst out laughing and Danny raised an eyebrow at her.

"Since when have **you** taken up skateboarding lessons?!" Tucker laughed, clutching his side.

"Since yesterday!"

"I thought you said you were doing something with your parents yesterday?!" questioned Danny in a hurt tone.

"I didn't say that! I said I couldn't make it to the cinema with you guys, I didn't give a reason!"

"Which reminds me Sam, you missed a **sweet** movie!" added Tucker.

"Really? What was it about?"

"**Tucker stop changing the subject**!" yelled Danny, his eyes flashing green for a second, which caused Tucker to recoil in fright.

"Uh, maybe it was a bad idea me coming!" Alex spoke nervously as he started to back away from Danny.

"No Alex, it's ok; just ignore him! You can do the patrol with me until you get use to it."

"You sure?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing at Danny in slight fear.

"Positive, **right guys**?!" she growled to them both.

Tucker raised his hands in defence.

"Hey, its fine by me!" he assured.

"**Danny**?!" she inquired fiercely.

"-**Sigh**- I guess!" he muttered.

"Good, then it's settled!" she smiled happily, "Come on Alex, we'll take the park!"

"Then me and Danny will take a couple of nearby blocks," Tucker grabbed Danny's arm and hissed, "Come on!"

Tucker began to drag Danny away as Sam and Alex walked off to the park. When they had reached a safe enough distance out of earshot, they stopped in front of a dark alleyway and Tucker released Danny while turning to face him.

"**What was that**?!" he yelled.

"What?!"

"**That**! You just met the guy and you were **terrorising** him!"

"I just don't trust him Tuck! I've never met him before and now he's going to hunt ghosts with us?!"

"My God Danny it's not like he's another **Gregor**! You're just jealous he was hanging out with Sam behind your back, aren't you?!" Tucker questioned as he folded his arms.

"**NO**!" Danny yelled a little too quickly.

Tucker raised an eyebrow at him.

"**I'm not**!"

"Whatever man! But you were a **bit** harsh on the poor guy, you should apologise!"

"-Sigh- I guess I should…"

Suddenly Danny's ghost senses went off.

"Uh-oh, ghost! Cover me Tuck!"

Danny dove behind a nearby car and switched from Danny Fenton into Amity's protector, Danny Phantom. He shot into the air and searched the skies for the cause of all the commotion. After a while, Danny stopped mid flight and groaned loudly.

"Not you **AGAIN**!" he growled.

"FEAR ME GHOST CHILD!" bellowed the one and only…Box Ghost.

"Didn't I capture you yesterday?!" he questioned in annoyance.

"NO CYLINDER CONTAINER CAN HOLD MY MIGHT FOR LONG!"

"No really, how do you get out?!" Danny asked as he folded his arms.

"I have acquaintances…now enough chat! **BEWARE**!"

The Box Ghost fired a few, flimsy cardboard boxes at Danny which he easily destroyed. He floated over to the Box Ghost.

"Is that all you've got?! Did you run out of the sharp ones or something?! Please, save me the trouble and go back to the Ghost Zone!" he pleaded as he motioned him away with his hand.

"**NEVER**!" he shouted as he fired another box at Danny.

"Right that's it! Don't say I didn't warn you!" he said in aggravation as he dodged the box.

Danny began to fire ectoblasts at the Box Ghost, causing him to fly backwards through the air. He quickly pulled out the Fenton Thermos and sucked up the Box Ghost with ease.

"I hope all the other ghosts I meet are as easy as that!"

Suddenly, a green ectoblast hit Danny square in the chest, causing him to yell in pain. He looked up to be face to face with Skulker.

"**Skulker**?! What are **you** doing here?" he growled.

"I'm here for your pelt ghost child!" he smiled as he raised his arm that was equipped with a gun, "Now stand still!"

A green net shot out from the weapon on his wrist and headed straight for Danny. Gasping, he dodged it just in time and turned to face Skulker.

**Meanwhile, in the park…**

"So…this is a thermos?!" Alex questioned as he held the Fenton Thermos in his hand.

"Yes, a **Fenton** Thermos!"

"What's it for, holding soup?!" he joked.

"**No**…why does everyone ask that…anyway, we use it to catch ghosts. You see this button?"

She pointed at a small button at the side of the thermos.

"You push that and it sucks the ghost in!"

"**BEWARE**!" shouted a voice.

"Did you hear that?!" Alex asked excitedly.

"Urgh, unfortunately I did!" she said in a bored tone as she recognised the voice.

"Maybe it was a ghost!" he smiled.

"Yeh, I wonder which one!" she said as she rolled her eyes.

"**NEVER**!" yelled the voice again.

"It came from over there, lets go get it!" he smiled as he ran towards the direction of the sound.

"Wait Alex, maybe you should get more practise first!"

Alex didn't hear her and continued to follow the sounds through the park. Sam sighed and was about to run after him when she heard a scream of pain. Her eyes widened in horror.

"Danny," she whispered in concern.

**Back at the fight…**

"Leave me **alone** Skulker!" yelled Danny as he fired an ectoblast at Skulker, which he dodged.

"But I love to make your life a misery!" he teased maliciously as he shot another net at Danny.

This time, Danny was unable to dodge the net as it captured him and caused him to fall to the ground. Skulker laughed in glee and floated down to him.

"Now you're mine!" he chuckled evilly.

"Not this time Skulker!"

Danny took at deep breath and released a powerful ghostly wail at Skulker. He screamed in pain and fright as he armour began to disintegrate into dust, leaving a tiny green ghost floating in the sky. Danny smirked at him as he broke from the net.

"Not so big now, are you?!" he joked as he picked him up by the back of the neck.

The tiny ghost started flailing arms and kicking air to get free.

"I'll get you for this Phantom!" he squeaked.

"Yeh yeh, whatever!" he yawned as he sucked him into the thermos.

"Well, that wasn't too bad-"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE **GHOST**!"

Sam managed to make out Alex say 'I've got you now!' before she turned the corner and gasped in shock. Danny was floating in the air, staring in confusion and fear at Alex armed with the Fenton Thermos in his hand. He quickly aimed it at Danny and got ready to capture him.

"**Wait Alex, don't**-"

Too late! Alex pushed the button, the unexpected force from it pushing him back so he fell on the ground, but managing to suck poor Danny into the thermos.

"I got him…" muttered Alex, eye wide in shock before grinning widely, "I CAUGHT A **GHOST**!"

(So…I guess that's what happens! Tell me what you think - )


End file.
